Nelly welcomed by raucous crowd at surprise gig after arrest over alleged drugs possession-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro

Nelly made a return to the spotlight after his arrest earlier this week (Picture: Instagram/Getty)

Nelly has made a surprise return to the stage following his arrest.

The Hot in Herre rapper, 49, was arrested at 4:45am on Wednesday in connection with suspected drug possession.

Nelly – real name Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. – was detained in Maryland Heights, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, after he was cited for driving without insurance, which led to the alleged discovery of ecstasy.

His lawyer later claimed he was ‘targeted by an overzealous, out of line officer’ and is ‘confident this case will go nowhere’.

This weekend, the musician made a comeback to the spotlight and received a very warm reception with a slot at Machine Gun Kelly’s concert.

Nelly was welcomed by a raucous crowd as he sang his 2005 hit Grillz and his 2002 tune Air Force Ones.

The rapper pulled up to Machine Gun Kelly’s gig in Cleveland (Picture: Instagram)

MGK – real name Colson Baker – filmed Nelly’s performance, going absolutely wild himself with excitement.

He wrote on his Instagram Story: ‘@nelly just pulled up wtfff’.

In a second video, the Bloody Valentine rapper, 34, was seen next to Nelly, dancing as the packed venue cheered.

Nelly’s cameo at the gig was in honour of MGK Day, an annual event celebrated in Cleveland, Ohio on August 13.

Taking to his own Instagram Story on Saturday night with a clip of MGK working the mic, Nelly wrote: ‘@machinegunkelly got the land going’, followed by an arrow emoji.

The gig comes after Nelly’s legal team made a statement about his detainment, clarifying that he ‘was not charged with drug possession’.

Nelly performed Grillz and Air Force One (Picture: Instagram)

MGK danced and hyped up the crowd as he celebrated his annual day (Picture: Instagram)

Lawyer Scott Rosenblum confirmed to DailyMail.com that his client was arrested for no proof of insurance, from 2018 on a warrant issued [in] December 2023.

Rosenblum claimed Nelly had received ‘no notice’ about the warrant.

That evening, Nelly had been at the Hollywood Casino and Hotel, which is based in the St. Louis suburb, where he won ‘several jackpots’.

Rosenblum claimed the officer who arrested Nelly ‘felt compelled to needlessly run a check for warrants’ rather than ‘supervising the transfer of winnings’, and the officer then ‘conducted a search without probable cause where he claimed to have found alleged ecstasy in [Nelly’s] personal property’.

The lawyer added in a statement: ‘Under similar circumstances, assuming there was an old warrant without any notice to the individual for no proof of insurance, any other citizen would have been told to address it and allowed to go on their way.

‘It is also important to note that Mr Haynes, as part of the requirements to travel internationally, is regularly asked to supply proof of no warrants. Including FBI checks. There were none.’

The rapper was arrested on Wednesday in connection with suspected drug possession (Picture: AP)

His lawyer is ‘confident’ the case will ‘go nowhere’ (Picture: Daniel DeSlover/ZUMA Press Wire/)

He stated that he is ‘100% confident’ the case will not escalate, adding that he and Nelly ‘will be asking for an inquiry into this officer’s conduct.’

Elsewhere, in June, it was revealed Nelly and singer-songwriter Ashanti, 43, had been married for months.

The couple rekindled their romance in 2023 after over a decade apart and in April, revealed they were engaged and expecting their first child together.

It has since emerged they actually said ‘I do’ long before they made the news public.

While Ashanti – full name Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas-Haynes – has not made a comment about her other half’s legal encounter, she seemingly brushed off any drama earlier this week by posting pictures from her mother’s birthday celebrations.

Ashanti, who is heavily pregnant, shared a gallery of snaps from the party which took place last month, writing in the caption: ‘Recap Mom’s bday!!!! @theoriginalmomanger ❤️❤️❤️ This was such a special night Happy Birthday again mom, I love you more than anything. s/o to @createsmedia I loved the frames! 7/13/24.’

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