Meek Mill at Made In America | photo by John Vettese for WXPN
Meek Mill returns to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss reform of the criminal justice system
In August of 2017, Meek Mill got arrested for reckless endangerment, violating his parole, and was taken into police custody after appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon hours before. On Tuesday night, the North Philly icon returned to the late-night talk show as both the musical and special guest.
Accompanied by his close friend and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, the two spoke about the “Dreams and Nightmares” rapper’s legal situation as well as the organization the two have started to reform the criminal justice system with the goal of liberating one million people unjustly caught in the judicial system. Meek has been a huge advocator for criminal justice reform, saying:
“To have some type of support, where I come from, we don’t really have a lot of support. So, you know, I feel lucky. And I feel lucky to be able to shed light on a show like this to people that’s trapped behind walls that would never get a chance to shed light on that situation. We got innocent people. You got people in jail from old statutes that make no sense that are just caught up in the system.”
Meek is no stranger to the racial bias of the criminal justice system. He spoke about his past with getting arrested at the age of 19, his addiction to opiates, and how he has been on parole for most of his life. He compared Philadelphia County to Montgomery County stating, “They go to treatment, we go straight to jail.” To learn more about how to support Meek Mill and his organization, click here.
Below, watch Meek Mill’s interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and then watch him take the stage alongside Jeremih, PnB Rock, and The Roots to perform “Dangerous” from his recently released EP Legends Of The Summer.