Another day, another crazy swatting situation. Authorities in Los Angeles have launched an investigation into a swatting incident that took place during DDG’s weekend livestream. The episode unfolded on Sunday while the rapper and content creator was hosting a paintball tournament, leading to a rapid and heavily armed law enforcement response. It marks yet another alarming case in a growing trend of targeting public figures with false emergency calls.
A representative for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told AllHipHop that detectives are working to track down the person behind the bogus 911 report. The caller allegedly claimed “a male adult was brandishing and firing a weapon, threatening to harm those nearby,” prompting deputies to rush to the scene.
Get this, when officers arrived, DDG was still streaming live. While no one suffered physical harm, the interruption was unsettling. DDG’s manager and attorney, Dimitri Hurt, told TMZ Hip Hop, “The anonymous caller fabricated a narrative suggesting that DDG was armed and posed a danger, resulting in an unnecessary and heavily armed police reaction at a peaceful paintball live streaming event. This irresponsible and malicious act disrupted the tournament, generated undue panic among attendees, and put everyone present, law enforcement included, at risk.”
Hurt also addressed the emotional repercussions. “The arrival of officers under the false assumption that you are armed is an intensely distressing and traumatic experience. While we are grateful that no one was physically injured, the emotional impact and disruption to the event atmosphere were significant.”
If you need a handy dandy refresher, swatting, the act of making false emergency reports to provoke a major police response, was once a little-known form of harassment but has become increasingly common against high-profile individuals, particularly those with significant online audiences. In recent years, other cases have surfaced, including allegations from Lauren Pisciotta, a former assistant to Ye, who accused him of orchestrating a swatting incident after she made misconduct claims. Representatives for West have denied the accusation, calling it “absurd and outlandish.”