Celebrity News July 26, 2022
Ice-T Recalls Troubled Past Before Making It Big in Hollywood
For more than 20 years, Ice-T has been tracking down the bad guys on “Law & Order: SVU.”
“Extra’s” Billy Bush spoke with Ice, who for years has had the longest run of any Black character in television history.
Before rocketing to fame in hip-hop and Hollywood, Ice was a street hustler and criminal who ran with his childhood friend Spike.
Along with introducing Spike to Billy, Ice noted, “Back before music, we were in trouble together. We just finished writing the book, a cautionary tale. You know, of what decisions we can make, you know, different decisions can send your life in entirely different trajectory.”
Their new book, “Split Decision: Life Stories,” focuses on their life decisions, including how Spike got caught up in the game and served 26 years in prison.
Spike shared, “I was charged with being a mastermind of conspiracy. I gave some people some information on a lick.”
Ice-T added, “Which was two simultaneous jewelry store robberies… In the crime that was committed, someone lost their life.”
Spike went on, “In that situation, even though I didn’t go in, I was just as culpable, so I took responsibility from that point on.”
When Billy noted that it must have been hard for Ice-T to see his friend behind bars, he commented, “We were living that life. When we were in the streets… going to prison is part of it. They say, ‘Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.’”
Spike has turned his life around and is hoping to dissuade people from following his “dark path.”
Ice stressed, “People can rehabilitate, people can change. I always say if somebody had caught me when I was 18, 20, 22. The wild stuff I was doing… Now look at me — I’m the most-loved cop on television… So given the right opportunity… the right choices, people can do whatever.”
