Ray J is asking fans for help as he embarks on a rather unconventional trip back to Los Angeles.
“I’m hitchhiking right now to try to get a place to stay tonight,” the singer, 44, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, December 13, revealing he is part of a new show called Celebrity Hitchhiker. “Hopefully I can be the new family, and it can take me in and teach me about their rules and their goals and life, and then send me on my way to the next destination.”
Ray J filmed the video in Tampa, Florida, adding that his goal is to make it back to Los Angeles in time for Christmas.
“I’m just trying to understand if this show is good, so I’m hitchhiking right now,” he added. “So if y’all see me on the street, coming from Tampa, back to Los Angeles, it is me. I do have a change of clothes right here in my bag. I need to get back before December 22nd, so I’m on a Celebrity Hitchhiking scouting run.”
Though he’s filming the experience for the show’s pilot, Ray J added, “it’s real and I’m all by myself. As you can see, nobody’s with me.”
He then appeared to reference his Thanksgiving Day arrest.
“I need some food and I need shelter. Just a lot of shit that’s happened. And I just wanna get back home and see my kids,” he said. “It’s a hitchhiking show, but it’s real though at the same time, and I wanna make it really authentic. I just do it for real on my phone. I mean, I have a camera in there too, but it’s just me.”
Ray J, real name William Ray Norwood, Jr., was arrested on November 27. The singer went live via Instagram early that morning to tell viewers he was having “the worst Thanksgiving in the f***ing world,” TMZ reported at the time. He later claimed that someone was trying to take his children.
Viewers kept watching as Ray J appeared to pull a gun on his estranged wife, Princess Love, and at least one of their children.
The clip began with Ray J saying, “Y’all wanna drive drunk? Y’all wanna drive drunk? Drive drunk. Drive drunk, Princess,” before Love interjected, “Ray, you just pointed a gun–”
“Drive drunk, princess. Go ahead,” Ray J continued. “You wanna take my kids? You and your drunk cousin? Cuz y’all drunk at the alcoholics? Take my kids then, go ahead. Who’s gonna drive? Tony, he’s been drinking too.”
“You pointed a gun at us, you pointed a gun at us,” Love continued. She later added, “Ray, you’re a woman abuser.”
“That’s what a drunk [person] always say. Like, you taking my daughter?” Ray J replied.
The singer was released from prison later on November 27 and spotted afterward by TMZ. He has not officially commented on the dispute with Love or his arrest. Us Weekly reached out to representatives for Ray J at the time.
Ray J and Love filmed the early years of their marriage for the VH1 series Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood. They married in August 2016 and have filed for divorce many times. They share daughter Melody Love, who was born in May 2018, and son Epik Ray, who joined the family in January 2020.
