Meek Mill backs out of White House visit

[Skylights]

Rapper Meek Mill has dropped out of attending a prison reform summit at the White House on Friday (18May18).

The Dreams and Nightmares hitmaker spent five months in prison before his release in April (18), after lawmakers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania overturned a judge's decision to keep him locked up for violating his probation linked to a 2008 drug and gun bust.

His punishment was widely considered overly harsh and Judge Genece Brinkley was accused of waging a personal vendetta against him.

Since his release, Meek, real name Robert Williams, has spoken about prison injustice and criminal justice reform, and he was scheduled to discuss the problems at the White House.

However, Williams has dropped out of the summit because he feels the focus has turned away from the issue and has become a spotlight for himself and controversial U.S. President Donald Trump.

"I was originally scheduled to be part of a panel on prison reform at the White House to help shed light on the issues within the system," he tells TMZ. "Unfortunately, the focus turned to the President and myself, which concerned me that it might take away from creating a positive result from today's discussions."

"As a result, I decided not to attend so that the focus would be solely on fixing our prison system," he adds. "Most importantly I remain fully committed to improving our criminal justice system."

According to TMZ, JAY-Z contacted Meek earlier this week and urged the rapper to reconsider appearing at the White House, insisting a meeting with Trump could potentially harm his image.