Lil Xan defends calling out ex-manager for allegedly enabling drug use
Lil Xan has defended his decision to call out his former manager, Stat Quo, for allegedly enabling his drug addiction on tour.
Last month the rapper (aka Diego, full name Nicholas Diego Leanos) spoke out against the manager, labelling Quo a “terrible fucking human being” and alleging that he would regularly supply him with drugs while he was out touring with the likes of Nicki Minaj and Juice WRLD.
After the comments, Xan was criticised for being a “snitch” against his manager. He’s since responded to the claims in a new Instagram Live video, saying that it’s impossible to be a rat because he’s not affiliated with any gangs.
He said: “It’s like half are saying, ‘Yo, thank God you are spreading the word.’
“And the other half is, ‘Oh, you’re a snitch now, bro. He didn’t make you do that.’ All this stuff. Like, bro, I’m not a gang banger.”
He added: “I’m a civilian. How am I a snitch? Did I go to court and rat on my gang? I don’t have a gang. You can’t snitch if you’re not a fucking gang member, bro. Miss me with that. I’m trying to help other artists, particularly in my same similar situation, not die or go down the same path and get in bad deals.”
Noting in the original stream that he’s now sober, Leanos said he no longer wishes to be known as Lil Xan, saying: “[Quo] knew all my plugs, so if I couldn’t perform because I was withdrawing back then – because yes, I used to be a drug addict – he would make calls, send $5,000 out here, just to ship the drugs to wherever we were at in the world.
“He’s going to act like he didn’t do that, like a fucking hypocrite, and I’m really feeling like I should take him to court, right? Because that was a time I almost died from the drugs. I was so skinny, unhealthy…”
Last August, Leanos opened up about his ongoing mental health struggles in an interview with 60 Minutes. He spoke candidly about fighting bouts of “intense anxiety”, saying: “It’ll jump out at the weirdest points in life. I can do a show for thousands of people and I won’t have a drop of anxiety. But the minute I’m in a closed environment, it could just be the most random thing will just set me off.”
He went on to acknowledge that his Lil Xan moniker is “popularising” the anti-anxiety drug, adding: “I always made that known that I didn’t like that my name was popularising it. But it’s what worked for me.”
The rapper had talked about being hospitalised after suffering “multiple seizures” in October 2020, after he said last summer that he was “sober from all prescription pills” and that sobriety made him feel “alive”.