Young Thug's Rise to Fame and Recent Indictment To Become Documentary and Podcast Series
Both projects are in the early stages of development.
Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions and Rolling Stone Films are creating a docuseries and podcast exploring Young Thug‘s rise to fame and recent indictment on RICO charges in Atlanta, according to Variety.
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, was arrested in May as part of a massive RICO indictment targeting the rapper and 27 additional people, including Gunna, associated with the alleged Young Slime Life gang. In June, Williams was denied bond by a judge, who claimed that he was a “danger to the community” and “flight risk.”
According to an official description via Variety, the multimedia projects “seek to separate the fact from the fiction of the criminal charges against YSL members, while also interrogating the controversial practice of prosecutors using rap lyrics as evidence of criminal activity. The result will be a wild, enthralling story of music, money, crime and hip-hop on trial.”
Both the docuseries and podcast are currently in their early stages of development and do not yet have directors or official titles attached.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the talented team at Jigsaw to tell this ambitious and important story about one of the most compelling and controversial music scenes of the moment,” Rolling Stone CEO Gus Wenner said in a statement.
Jigsaw’s Stacey Offman, who is executive producing the docuseries, added, “Jigsaw is thrilled to partner with the formidable team at Rolling Stone to explore Young Thug and YSL Records’ story in a style that is both absorbing and journalistically rigorous. It’s an intriguing narrative with engaging characters and enormous First Amendment consequences when song lyrics are applied in a criminal indictment.”
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