Rapper Meek Mill, left, missed Game 1 of the much-anticipated Toronto Raptors vs Philadelphia 76ers NBA playoffs series in Toronto on Saturday. Toronto won the round 2 opening game 108-95 at Scotiabank Arena. But the Philly native wasn’t in attendance because Judge Genece Brinkley, center, refused to give him permission to travel to Toronto.
Drake, pictured above and top right, took to Instagram to express his disappointment, stating it was important to allow Meek to travel to Toronto for Game 1.
“They gotta let Meek into the city,” wrote Drake, who is the Raptors’ global ambassador. “It’s only right… we got a classic series on our hands.”
Judge Brinkley denied Meek’s request to travel out of the country to attend the series in Toronto, Complex.com reports.
The judge tossed Meek in prison in 2017 for violating his parole stemming from a 2008 weapons possession conviction. Judge Brinkley revoked Meek’s parole and sentenced him to serve 2-4 years.
But Meek’s celebrity friends rallied public and private sector support for the troubled rapper who was released in 2018 by a Pennsylvania appeals court. Since his release, Meek has attended Sixers games at home and on the road.
Although Meek attended the Golden State Warriors vs L.A. Clippers series on the West Coast last week, he couldn’t travel to Toronto to cheer on his favorite team.
Judge Brinkley previously authorized the rapper to travel out of the country to perform concerts in the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
Sixers owner Michael Rubin wrote a scathing rebuke of the judge on Instagram.com, accusing Brinkley of being “obsessed” with the rapper and “trying to control every aspect of his life.”
Photos by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images, Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images, Prince Williams/ATLPics.net
