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In what looked like a repeat of his infamous 2003 CNN interview about controversial rap lyrics, Cam'ron once again found himself in the hot seat with the cable news network. This time, the Harlem-based rapper was grilled over recent comments he made alleging music mogul Diddy had him "blackballed" from the industry.
The situation began in early April when Cam'ron joined an Instagram Live session with former boxer Adrien Broner. In a free-wheeling discussion, Cam didn't mince words about his past issues with Diddy's business tactics.
"I had a lot of issue with Puff, man. That n***a did some foul shit," Cam stated. "He had me blackballed for a little while...It was just some bullshit."
Cam's explosive "blackballed" claim quickly went viral, prompting CNN to book the rapper for an on-air interview about the Diddy controversy. However, when confronted by CNN Newsroom host Alisyn Camerota, Cam seemed to downplay the situation.
"I mean, it really wasn't that serious," Cam told Camerota with a nonchalant shrug. "We was just on Live crackin' up, you know how us comedians do."
As Camerota pressed him to clarify if he really had issues with Diddy blocking his career, Cam remained evasive: "All I'ma say is I'm a Bird, he's a Diddy. I got bridges in this game he ain't never gon' cross."
The awkward exchange left many viewers accusing Cam'ron of backing down from his initial Diddy claims when faced with the CNN cameras. Seeming to sense it was going nowhere, the rapper then took matters into his own hands.
"Listen, I could see we going back and forth with this," Cam told Camerota abruptly. "I'm gonna just get up off this though, you know what I mean? I got a train to catch."
With that, Cam'ron stood up, removed his microphone, and walked off the CNN set without any goodbyes - reminiscent of his 2003 appearance where he smirked through questions about perceived misogyny in his lyrics before departing.
"There goes Mr. Cam'ron, everybody," Camerota remarked to the viewers as the rapper exited. "You never know what you're going to get when you have him on this program."
CNN has not commented on whether Cam'ron will be invited back, but his latest awkward interview with the network is already being meme'd across social media. For a rapper who has built a career on keeping it real, the incidents show Cam'ron may forever struggle to convey that authenticity to mass audiences - whether in 2003 or 2023.
