A Romanian court has sentenced American rapper Wiz Khalifa to nine months in prison for smoking cannabis during a live performance.
The artist, whose real name is Thomaz Cameron Jibril, admitted to lighting a joint on stage at the Beach, Please! music festival in Costinești in July 2024. Romanian authorities said he was found in possession of more than 18 grams of cannabis and also consumed additional amounts during the performance.
In a ruling delivered by the Constanța Court of Appeal, judges overturned an earlier sentence that imposed a fine of 3,600 Romanian lei, replacing it with a nine-month custodial sentence. The court ruled that the rapper’s actions sent a message that normalised illegal behaviour and encouraged drug use among young people.
Wiz Khalifa was sentenced in absentia and is not currently in Romanian custody. In recent days, he has been seen performing in California and posting content from his home on social media and streaming platforms. The BBC has contacted the rapper for comment.
Police briefly detained and questioned Jibril after the concert before releasing him, while prosecutors later charged him with possession of so-called “risk drugs” for personal use.
In its written judgment, the appeals court described the incident as an “ostentatious act,” noting that the rapper consumed cannabis on stage at a festival popular with young audiences.
Following the incident, Wiz Khalifa said on social media that he did not intend to offend Romania, adding that authorities treated him respectfully and joking that he would return “without a big joint next time.”
Romanian criminologist Vlad Zaha described the sentence as unusually severe and said it was highly unlikely that the United States would extradite the rapper to serve the prison term, despite a formal request expected from Romanian authorities.
Wiz Khalifa, a ten-time Grammy nominee known for hits such as Black and Yellow, See You Again and Young, Wild & Free, has long been associated with cannabis culture and launched his own marijuana brand in 2016. While cannabis is legal for medical and recreational use in some US states, it remains illegal under Romanian law and under US federal law.
