Meek Mill celebrates freedom
JAILED rapper Meek Mill said a prayer as he learned he had been released on bail as he watched the news in his cell, telling Page Six in his first interview, “I’m in a daze . . . It’s unbelievable.”
He spoke exclusively to Page Six as he left a Pennsylvania jail on Tuesday after five months and raced to celebrate at the Philadelphia 76ers playoff game (photo on opposite page). His close friend, Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin, had personally picked him up at the jail in Chester and flew him by helicopter to the arena.
Minutes after leaving his cell on Tuesday, Meek told us by phone, “I am great — I am still dazed, I’m in a daze, this is great, and unbelievable. I always had confidence it was going this way, but I didn’t know when it would happen and I’d be free. It looked like it was going to take months.”
Meek was issued specific times for phone calls and visits while in jail, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had notified his legal team of its order for immediate bail outside of these permitted hours on Tuesday, so his supporters couldn’t contact him right away with the news.
Of the moment he learned of his freedom, Meek said, “I was in my cell and I was watching the news, and they said I’m free. I immediately said a quick prayer, and got ready to go.”
Meek was sentenced to two to four years for a minor parole violation last year, sparking an outcry over the harsh sentence and the unfair crimi- nal-justice system. Having always maintained his innocence, Meek said they still had work to do to get his 2008 drug and gun conviction overturned, after it turned out to be based on the evidence of a noted “corrupt” cop. And he wants to shine a light on others trapped in the system.
But first, he was ready to celebrate. Meek said, “We are on to see the Sixers game, and it’s going to be a big night for Philly.” And he’ll be reunited with his son Papi, 6, whom he has barely seen during his jail time. “I am gonna watch the game with my son . . . I can’t wait to see [him]. It’s his birthday on May 13 and he’d been asking how we would celebrate. When I was in jail I couldn’t give him an answer . . . but now I’ll be with him.”