Monday, October 23, 2023 – Trey Songz’ bodyguard has been sentenced to a year in a Dubai jail after he stepped in to protect Grammy-nominated R&B star TreySongz from being attacked.
Cornell Whitfield was ‘doing his job’ when he put himself in front of the singer who had been confronted by a man as they left the luxury FIVE Palm Jumeirah hotel.
To calm down the ‘aggressive’ hotel guest who was swearing and waving his arms, he claims that he gently tapped the man’s face.
The 40-year-old reportedly thought nothing more of the confrontation and flew back to the US after the incident in March. But when he returned to Dubai two months ago he was arrested on an assault charge after being told the man he had struck had filed a criminal complaint.
Whitfield was told he had to pay his ‘victim’ £49,000 ($60,000) to have the charges dropped.
When he was unable to raise the money, he was sentenced to a year in jail.
The father of two is currently on bail but has not been allowed to leave the United Arab Emirates with his family in Miami, Florida, desperate for him to return home.
As well as Lil Kim, Whitfield has been the bodyguard for NFL sports stars Trevon Diggs and Deebo Samuels.
He has also acted as bodyguard for the Junior Combs, the actor son of Sean Combs, and the rap artist Quavo.
Whitfield was accompanying Trey Songz as part of his security detail when they left the five-star hotel to go to a club.
They were confronted by a Jordanian national who began acting aggressively shouting, swearing, and waving his arms at the group.
Whitfield attempted to calm the man down and tapped his face he said in an attempt to diffuse the situation.
The incident was caught on hotel CCTV and Whitfield and the others in TreySongz group later flew back to the US.
It was only when the bodyguard returned to Dubai in August that he was arrested.
Despite saying the incident was caught on CCTV and he had witnesses, prosecutors allowed the ‘victim’ to pursue Whitfield and demand the cash payment to drop the assault allegation.
Unable to pay Whitfield was told he cannot leave the United Arab Emirates. His lawyer has lodged an appeal against the sentence.
Many of his former clients are now promising to help raise the money so he can fly home.
Whitfield said: ‘I was only doing my job. The man appeared very erratic as if he was drunk or on drugs.
‘I just tapped his face to jolt him out of what he was doing, and it had the right effect. He backed off, and that was the end of the matter.
‘I just want to go home to my family. The whole thing has been a nightmare. I know Lil Kim is very upset at the what has happened.’
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