Getty Remy Ma speaks onstage during day 2 of REVOLT Summit x AT&T Summit.
In 2008, Remy Ma was convicted of intentional assault after being accused of shooting a woman named Makeda Barnes-Joseph, the New York Times reported. She was released in 2014 after serving six years in prison. Since her release she hasn’t spoken much about the shooting or the woman she was accused of shooting. On The Wendy Williams Show, she opened up about the 2007 incident and not only denied knowing Barnes-Joseph but also said she never shot her.
During her trial, it was reported that Barnes-Joseph was a good friend of Remy’s, something she denied while speaking to Williams.
“Here’s the thing. This girl wasn’t my best friend. All of these things [told] all of these years were not true, but once you’re in prison, no one cares,” she said. “Once you come home, I’m not gonna spend the rest of my life trying to prove to people like, I don’t know this person. I found out about her last name when y’all found out. When y’all read it in the newspaper.”
Remy Ma, born Reminisce Smith, also maintained her innocence and said she never shot Barnes-Joseph.
“I didn’t shoot anybody,” she said. “Do y’all really think every time the D.A., the judge, [and] the jury got it right every single time? No, they didn’t.”
Remy Ma & Makeda Barnes-Joseph Were Arguing Over Stolen Money
On the night of the incident that led to Remy Ma’s arrest, she and Barnes-Joseph were arguing over the “Conceited” rapper being robbed of $3,000, the New York Times reported. During their argument, they then began tussling over a purse that Smith thought had the missing monies. While they were tugging on the purse, Smith was accused of accidentally shooting Barnes-Joseph in the abdomen, the Times reported.
Barnes-Joseph told MTV in 2007 that after she was shot, Smith went through her purse looking for the money.
“What hurts me is that when she shot me she went over and dumped the bag,” Barnes-Joseph said. “She didn’t even say, ‘Oh, my God, I just shot her.’ That’s what hurt me so much.”
After being arrested and charged, Smith pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, first-degree assault and weapons charges, MTV reported.
Smith was convicted of intentional assault after a two-week trial and sentenced to eight years in prison. She was sent to the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women to serve her sentence.
A Fellow Love & Hip Hop Star Accused Remy Ma of Assault
Brittney Taylor, who also starred on Love & Hip Hop: New York, accused Smith of physically assaulting her in 2019. According to The New York Daily News, Taylor accused Smith punching her in the eye after they had a disagreement over her stepdaughter, Dejenae, during a concert at New York City’s Irving Plaza.
“What happened with me and Dej in Miami is I saved her—I saved her life, and [Remy] got aggressive [when Brittany told her at Irving],” she told the News. “She was like, ‘That’s not what I heard,’ and she punched me in the face.”
The case was later thrown out after the only eyewitness to the incident stopped cooperating.
“The sole corroborating eyewitness for the complainant is no longer cooperative,” Assistant District Attorney Juan Maldonado said according to ABC. “(An) unaffiliated witness remembers seeing the defendant the entire time the defendant was in the green room at Irving Plaza, where the assault purportedly occurred. This eyewitness never saw the defendant and the complainant interact in the time she observed the defendant.”
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