Terrance Curtis Beasley
These ni*gas claim Top 5 but we OVOK
Matt Small, a hobby photographer, says he was taking pictures of a vibrant sunset from Toronto’s Polson Pier Monday when a luxury helicopter landed nearby, and produced a VIP passenger: Drake.
Drake, wearing a dark turtleneck and a chain, demanded repeatedly that the images be deleted, says hobby photographer Matt Small.
Two amateur photographers met Drake Monday, and say the rapper was on his worst behaviour.
Matt Small, a 28-year-old city worker and hobby photographer, said he was taking pictures of a vibrant sunset from Toronto’s Polson Pier Monday when a luxury helicopter landed nearby, and produced a VIP passenger: Drake.
Small turned his camera toward the luxury aircraft and snapped away as Drake emerged, joined by a pilot, another man and two women.
The mystery women were dressed identically in matching white parkas, skinny tan pants, tan boots and ponytail hairstyles.
A six-foot-tall fence topped with barbed wire and about 20 feet separated Small from the world’s most famous rapper. Then, Small said Drake’s friend demanded to know who he was.
Small, thinking the group presumed him to be a paparazzo, replied: “I’m nobody.” He said he wasn’t even shooting with the type of camera lens a celebrity photographer would use.
Fearing conflict, Small said he turned his back to continue taking pictures of the cityscape. That’s when Drake removed his fur coat, charged a portion of the fence without the barbed wire and scaled it, said Michael Massie, a 32-year-old family doctor and amateur photographer, who was also at Polson Pier Monday.
“He was in my face, saying, ‘You need to delete those pictures out of respect,’ ” Small said. “I said, ‘You’re not respecting me right now man, you’re in my face harassing me.’ ”
Small refused to delete his photos, worried that in his stressed state he’d erase the whole memory card and lose photos of his young daughter. Also, he felt he hadn’t done anything wrong.
Drake, wearing a dark turtleneck and a chain, told him repeatedly to delete the images, Small said, and the pair were joined by Drake’s friend.
Small felt “unsettled.” He was standing face to face with the rapper when he tried to step back, he said, he realized Drake’s friend was standing behind him.
Drake then began taking pictures of him, Small said, and started taking pictures of him, “right in my face,” repeating: ‘I got you.’ ”
At this point, Small “felt like they were going to do something,” so he yelled, “Help, someone please call the police.”
As Drake’s friend grabbed for Small’s camera and tried to yank out the memory card, Massie heard the cry and approached the scene.
“I went up with my phone up, 911 dialed but not calling it yet,” said Massie, who didn’t know Small before the incident but watched Drake and his friend block Small, reaching for his camera.
“I said, ‘Whatever’s going on, someone tell me, otherwise I’m calling the police right now.’ And the first person who comes up to me is Drake. And Drake says, ‘Your buddy has to give us his memory card and delete his pictures.’ I said, ‘I don’t even know him.’ He goes, ‘You’ve gotta get rid of your pictures, too.’ ”
Massie said he told Drake he didn’t have any pictures of his own, and that Small was free to take pictures in public. Then, as Drake began walking back to his limo, the 29-year-old Grammy winner asked Massie his name.
“He points back and says: ‘I’m going to find you, Michael.’ I don’t know where the (hell) that came from!” Massie said, with a laugh. “I thought we were OK.”
Small hurried back to his car, and began to pack up his belongings. A black Cadillac Escalade pulled up next to him, with Drake and his group inside, staring at him.
The altercation contradicts Drake’s image as Toronto’s most boisterous booster. As a teenager, Aubrey Drake Graham appeared in Canadian teen television drama Degrassi: The Next Generation. He was named global ambassador for the Toronto Raptors in 2013, and cheers exuberantly for the basketball team from a courtside perch. The title of his forthcoming album, Views From the 6, has made The Six or The 6 the city’s most famous moniker, and it has trended since 2014. Drake himself is known as the 6 God.
During NBA all-star weekend in February, Mayor John Tory awarded Toronto’s most famous citizen with the key to the city. And the musician is beloved for lavishing international publicity on local businesses such as Caribbean restaurant The Real Jerk, where Drake and his rumoured former love Rihanna filmed a music video this year for her song ‘Work.’
“It’s sad,” Small said. “They say he’s Toronto’s ambassador. He didn’t exhibit those characteristics last (Monday) night.”
On Tuesday morning, Small said he reported the incident to police at 43 Division, but was told by an officer that if he were to file a report, “the chances of it going anywhere are nil.” A staff sergeant at the station told the Star he had “no idea” about the incident.
“I was just taking a picture. I’m there all the time taking pictures,” Small said. “It wasn’t right.
“Drake or not, no one can really treat me that way. I was pretty offended by it.”
Small and Massie each visit Polson Pier often; it’s a hot spot for photographers who want a sparkling shot of Toronto’s skyline.
“Usually right at sunset through twilight, you’ll get a lineup of people,” said Lisa Mark, owner of Lisa Mark Photography. “The last time I shot there, there were six amateur photographers with tripods set up.”
Erika Hammer of Ten ·2· Ten Photography agreed. “Anytime I’ve been walking in that area, I always see at least a few folks gathered at the docks.”
Neither Drake nor his friend initiated physical contact with Small, he said, only his camera. But nevertheless, he is shaken up.
“It’s just so messed up,” he said. “I think they were just trying to bully me. … I’m not a confrontational person. I was so anxious and panicked to get out of there.
“It was a bunch of punks last night, how they acted,” he said. “I’m really not in this to exploit Drake. It’s just the principle of bullying and walking off and getting into your limo and pretending your actions were OK.”
Drake released two new songs earlier Tuesday. Views From the 6 is expected to drop this month. Billboards promoting the record are plastered all over the city.
It’s safe to say Small is no longer among the fans eagerly awaiting the new album.
Drake resumed his position courtside at Tuesday’s Toronto Raptors game.
A representative for Drake declined a request for comment.
City worker claims Drake ‘bullied’ him after he snapped pictures of famous rapper getting off helicopter | Toronto Star
Drake, wearing a dark turtleneck and a chain, demanded repeatedly that the images be deleted, says hobby photographer Matt Small.
Two amateur photographers met Drake Monday, and say the rapper was on his worst behaviour.
Matt Small, a 28-year-old city worker and hobby photographer, said he was taking pictures of a vibrant sunset from Toronto’s Polson Pier Monday when a luxury helicopter landed nearby, and produced a VIP passenger: Drake.
Small turned his camera toward the luxury aircraft and snapped away as Drake emerged, joined by a pilot, another man and two women.
The mystery women were dressed identically in matching white parkas, skinny tan pants, tan boots and ponytail hairstyles.
A six-foot-tall fence topped with barbed wire and about 20 feet separated Small from the world’s most famous rapper. Then, Small said Drake’s friend demanded to know who he was.
Small, thinking the group presumed him to be a paparazzo, replied: “I’m nobody.” He said he wasn’t even shooting with the type of camera lens a celebrity photographer would use.
Fearing conflict, Small said he turned his back to continue taking pictures of the cityscape. That’s when Drake removed his fur coat, charged a portion of the fence without the barbed wire and scaled it, said Michael Massie, a 32-year-old family doctor and amateur photographer, who was also at Polson Pier Monday.
“He was in my face, saying, ‘You need to delete those pictures out of respect,’ ” Small said. “I said, ‘You’re not respecting me right now man, you’re in my face harassing me.’ ”
Small refused to delete his photos, worried that in his stressed state he’d erase the whole memory card and lose photos of his young daughter. Also, he felt he hadn’t done anything wrong.
Drake, wearing a dark turtleneck and a chain, told him repeatedly to delete the images, Small said, and the pair were joined by Drake’s friend.
Small felt “unsettled.” He was standing face to face with the rapper when he tried to step back, he said, he realized Drake’s friend was standing behind him.
Drake then began taking pictures of him, Small said, and started taking pictures of him, “right in my face,” repeating: ‘I got you.’ ”
At this point, Small “felt like they were going to do something,” so he yelled, “Help, someone please call the police.”
As Drake’s friend grabbed for Small’s camera and tried to yank out the memory card, Massie heard the cry and approached the scene.
“I went up with my phone up, 911 dialed but not calling it yet,” said Massie, who didn’t know Small before the incident but watched Drake and his friend block Small, reaching for his camera.
“I said, ‘Whatever’s going on, someone tell me, otherwise I’m calling the police right now.’ And the first person who comes up to me is Drake. And Drake says, ‘Your buddy has to give us his memory card and delete his pictures.’ I said, ‘I don’t even know him.’ He goes, ‘You’ve gotta get rid of your pictures, too.’ ”
Massie said he told Drake he didn’t have any pictures of his own, and that Small was free to take pictures in public. Then, as Drake began walking back to his limo, the 29-year-old Grammy winner asked Massie his name.
“He points back and says: ‘I’m going to find you, Michael.’ I don’t know where the (hell) that came from!” Massie said, with a laugh. “I thought we were OK.”
Small hurried back to his car, and began to pack up his belongings. A black Cadillac Escalade pulled up next to him, with Drake and his group inside, staring at him.
The altercation contradicts Drake’s image as Toronto’s most boisterous booster. As a teenager, Aubrey Drake Graham appeared in Canadian teen television drama Degrassi: The Next Generation. He was named global ambassador for the Toronto Raptors in 2013, and cheers exuberantly for the basketball team from a courtside perch. The title of his forthcoming album, Views From the 6, has made The Six or The 6 the city’s most famous moniker, and it has trended since 2014. Drake himself is known as the 6 God.
During NBA all-star weekend in February, Mayor John Tory awarded Toronto’s most famous citizen with the key to the city. And the musician is beloved for lavishing international publicity on local businesses such as Caribbean restaurant The Real Jerk, where Drake and his rumoured former love Rihanna filmed a music video this year for her song ‘Work.’
“It’s sad,” Small said. “They say he’s Toronto’s ambassador. He didn’t exhibit those characteristics last (Monday) night.”
On Tuesday morning, Small said he reported the incident to police at 43 Division, but was told by an officer that if he were to file a report, “the chances of it going anywhere are nil.” A staff sergeant at the station told the Star he had “no idea” about the incident.
“I was just taking a picture. I’m there all the time taking pictures,” Small said. “It wasn’t right.
“Drake or not, no one can really treat me that way. I was pretty offended by it.”
Small and Massie each visit Polson Pier often; it’s a hot spot for photographers who want a sparkling shot of Toronto’s skyline.
“Usually right at sunset through twilight, you’ll get a lineup of people,” said Lisa Mark, owner of Lisa Mark Photography. “The last time I shot there, there were six amateur photographers with tripods set up.”
Erika Hammer of Ten ·2· Ten Photography agreed. “Anytime I’ve been walking in that area, I always see at least a few folks gathered at the docks.”
Neither Drake nor his friend initiated physical contact with Small, he said, only his camera. But nevertheless, he is shaken up.
“It’s just so messed up,” he said. “I think they were just trying to bully me. … I’m not a confrontational person. I was so anxious and panicked to get out of there.
“It was a bunch of punks last night, how they acted,” he said. “I’m really not in this to exploit Drake. It’s just the principle of bullying and walking off and getting into your limo and pretending your actions were OK.”
Drake released two new songs earlier Tuesday. Views From the 6 is expected to drop this month. Billboards promoting the record are plastered all over the city.
It’s safe to say Small is no longer among the fans eagerly awaiting the new album.
Drake resumed his position courtside at Tuesday’s Toronto Raptors game.
A representative for Drake declined a request for comment.
City worker claims Drake ‘bullied’ him after he snapped pictures of famous rapper getting off helicopter | Toronto Star
