6ix9ine claims Nicolás Maduro signed his SpongeBob toy in jail
The “FEFE” rapper and convicted felon posted a picture of a SpongeBob stuffie with what appeared to be the Venezuelan dictator’s signature scrawled on it.
Photos by Carmen Mandato & Alfredo Lasry R/Getty Images
When Tekashi 6ix9ine was released from federal custody at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on Friday, it was only natural that fans expected some sort of unorthodox announcement in honor of the rapper’s return to the free world. 6ix9ine, born Daniel Hernandez, has long been known for his eccentric personality and disregard for social norms. It was still something of a surprise, though, when Hernandez marked his release with a video showing off a SpongeBob SquarePants figurine he nicknamed “Sponge9ine” that he claimed oppressive Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro had autographed for him behind bars. According to Hernandez, the figurine reads: “Maduro, 2nd of April. Venezuela forever.”
In a typical whiplash moment, the video then panned to a seven-figure diamond-encrusted chain the rapper had been gifted as a release present. “Fresh OUT THE FEDS $2,200,000 on the neck,” Hernandez captioned the SpongeBob-brandishing clip. “GOD IS THE GREATEST. MY LORD AND SAVIOR…MADURO SINGNED [sic] MY JAIL HOUSE SPONGE9INE.” He then put on the necklace, which featured a wreath of 3D flowers that pinwheeled in circles around Hernandez’s neck and shone brightly against his prison-issued gray sweatsuit. As one does.
The rapper had been in custody since January 6, his second time incarcerated in the past year for violating his probation from a 2019 gang membership charge. His sentence was drastically reduced after he cooperated with law enforcement in the prosecution of his fellow gang members, whom he had offered $20,000 to shoot and kill Chief Keef after the two rappers got into an online feud. After the gang failed to injure Keef, he gave them only $10,000.
6ix9ine’s fixation with Maduro is nothing new: in January, shortly after he was taken into custody for violating his probation, Hernandez namedropped both the dictator and Luigi Mangione in an effort to shill an online gambling platform. “I got tired of playing spades with Luigi & Maduro!!!” he captioned the video, adding, “#FreeMe #freehealthcare #freevenezuela.” How he was posting—or gambling—from protective custody remains unclear.
On American internet personality Adin Ross’s Kick stream, which took place a day after Hernandez’s release, the rapper also claimed to have been roommates with Maduro in the prison, and to have taken Sean “Diddy” Combs’s bed. The streamers then performed an Easter prayer with Hernandez, who had spent the night prior celebrating his release at a Florida strip club called “Booby Trap.”
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