Rygin King slams ‘slanderous’ voice note
After Elephant Man denied claims that he tried to circumvent COVID-19 travel protocols implemented by the Jamaican Government, Rygin King’s management team has denied allegations that he made a false declaration regarding his trip to Europe.
“These allegations (in a voice note) are blatant lies and border on outright slander. First, the artiste made a truthful declaration regarding his stay in Germany. Consequently, he and his road manager were duly processed and screened in the appropriate ‘health’ section of the airport by the authorities,” the statement read.
“Secondly, the artiste did not, at any time, mention the name of fellow dancehall artiste Elephant Man in any conversations with the authorities”.
While admitting that Rygin “did become a bit boisterous during an exchange with the airport authorities”, his team said this was because of stress, as he had been travelling for 17 hours straight to make it to the island from Belgium via Costa Rica.
“The stress of the arduous journey, coupled with the reality that the artiste had been forced to cut his tour abruptly, losing shows in Europe and Africa, and incurring significant financial losses, created a potentially contentious situation,” said the statement. “These factors may have led to frayed nerves, and, for that, we apologise to the fans, the hard-working airport staff and security, as well as the authorities.”
It continued: “We also admit that a police officer did come to the health section of the airport, but the officer was not explicitly summoned to reprimand the artiste, as the slanderous voice note suggests.”
The statement went on to express respect for “the valiant efforts of the Government in trying to contain the virus”.
“We would never deliberately put our fellow countrymen in danger,” the statement said.
The artiste has exercised the option to self-quarantine, locking himself away from his friends and family for a period of 14 days.
COVID-19 has spread to every continent except Antarctica, infecting more than 200,000 people globally and killing more than 8,000.
Governments around the world have implemented travel restrictions, border closures and lockdowns, in an effort to slow
the spread.