On the track “Real Friends” off of year’s The Life of Pablo, Kanye West referred to a cousin blackmailing him by stealing a laptop that Kanye West had a sex tape on and demanding $250,000.
Now his cousin is verifying the story.
In an interview with The Daily Mail, Lawrence Franklin, said cousin of Kanye, claims that the incident led to him being less trustworthy of those around him.
‘The sex tape episode started his decline – he stopped trusting people,’ Franklin said.
Kanye gave a family member the laptop as a gift in 2012, when another family member found the sex tape on it.
“I was at my aunt’s house when the family member who had the laptop called me, a friend of his, and my uncle to the kitchen where he opened the laptop to show a video of Kanye in clear view having sex with a fair-skinned black woman,” Franklin explained.
‘The family member knew what he had was gold, and later called an old friend of his that was an attorney.
‘He put together a small team him and his attorney went after Kanye, and to show that they meant business they leaked a little information publicly to let it be know they indeed had the footage.
‘The family member tried to keep a low profile but it was not long before Kanye’s team learned who it was that had the sex tape.’
The person received several offers for the tape – including from a porn website, Franklin said.
‘Eventually the family member agreed to give Kanye the laptop for a large amount of money – more than $250,000, and ensure there were no other copies.
‘He was was also required to take a lie detector test regarding the laptop.
‘The family member got this money and started to buy himself a lifestyle he dreamed about.
‘This did make Kanye upset, but it was all kept quiet. It caused a huge rift in our family.’
Read more about the story at The Daily Mail.
Last week, Kanye caused a stir when photos of him visiting Trump Tower emerged.