Video has surfaced of Drake kissing a 17-year-old girl in Denver, Colorado in May 2010. In the clip, the Canadian rapper invites the girl on stage during his performance at the Ogden Theater, dances with her, kisses her neck, comments on her shampoo, then pulls her shirt down at the back of the neck to kiss her again.
After reaching both hands across her chest while standing behind her, he picks up the microphone and says he is getting “carried away”. When asked her age, the unnamed girl replies: “17.” Drake responds: “I can’t go to jail yet, man!”
He asks: “Why do you look like that? You thick [curvaceous]. Look at all this.”
He continues: “I don’t know if I should feel guilty or not, but I had fun. I like the way your Brea5ts feel against my chest.” He then kisses her on the cheeks and forehead.
Drake would have been age 23 at the time the video was made. The age of consent in Colorado is 17. He has not responded to the video on social media and his US publicist declined to comment to USA Today. The Guardian has contacted representatives for the rapper.
It is the second time Drake has faced criticism in recent days. On 3 January, he appeared to tease a forthcoming collaboration with the R&B singer Chris Brown. The pair feuded publicly in 2012 and 2015, but appeared to reconcile in 2018 when Drake invited Brown on stage in Los Angeles.
Drake is nominated in seven categories at next month’s Grammy awards, including album of the year for his 2018 release, Scorpion.