Offset says his explosive Paris casino confrontation over $20,000 blackjack hands and a supposed $200,000 win was actually an album publicity stunt.
Offset has taken another gamble, this time with the media. What seemed to be a wild Paris blackjack meltdown may have been nothing more than trolling. And I have questions.
Video surfaced showing Offset seemingly losing his cool inside a casino on the Champs Élysées while playing some very expensive blackjack. We are not talking about the $25 table where somebody’s uncle is sweating his rent money. Offset said he was wagering between $10,000 and $20,000 per hand.
In the footage, Offset was upset because other gamblers were allegedly being allowed to occupy what he considered his position at the table.
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“Nobody touch my s**t,” he said.
Offset also claimed he had already taken the casino for $200,000 and argued that the size of his wagers warranted a certain level of treatment. OK, playa!
“I’m betting high [and] you need to treat me like how I’m betting,” he said.
Sounds like a good old fashioned rich rapper casino crash out, right?
Not so fast…
There were conflicting stories about whether Offset was actually winning. TMZ reported there was chatter that he had suffered a substantial loss. Members of his entourage had reportedly claimed earlier that he was up roughly $80,000.
Then Offset flipped the entire story.
Per The Shade Room, Offset said the confrontation was staged as part of the rollout for his upcoming album.
He reportedly complained, “Man, they messin up my rollout,” after news organizations treated the footage as an authentic confrontation.
Now THAT is interesting.
If Offset really manufactured a casino meltdown knowing somebody would film it, post it and send the internet scrambling, he essentially turned celebrity gossip into free advertising. What album? How much of it was actually fake?
Was the argument scripted while the gambling was real? Was the $200,000 claim part of the performance? Were casino employees participating? Offset has not explained every detail of how the alleged stunt was constructed. I need those answers!
Either way, Offset got exactly what an album rollout needs.
Attention.
Free.