Romanian court jails Wiz Khalifa in absentia over on-stage cannabis use

American rapper Wiz Khalifa has been handed a nine-month prison sentence by a Romanian appeals court for smoking cannabis during a live performance.

The artist, whose real name is Thomaz Cameron Jibril, admitted to lighting a joint while performing at the Beach, Please! festival in Costinești in July 2024.

A lower court had initially fined him 3,600 Romanian lei (£619; $829) for possession of drugs for personal use. That ruling has now been overturned by the Constanța Court of Appeal, which ordered that he serve a custodial sentence instead.

Jibril was convicted in absentia. He has recently been seen performing with fellow rapper Gunna in California and sharing content from his home on Twitch and social media. 

Police briefly detained and questioned him after the 13 July concert, and prosecutors later charged him with possession of “risk drugs” for personal use. Investigators said he had more than 18 grams of cannabis and consumed an additional quantity on stage.

In their written judgment, appeal judges said they imposed a harsher punishment because the performance sent “a message of normalisation of illegal conduct” and encouraged drug use among young people. They described his actions as “ostentatious”, noting that he consumed an “artisanal cigarette” in front of a large crowd made up mainly of very young fans.

A day after the incident, Jibril posted on X that he had not intended to offend Romanians, adding that authorities had been “very respectful” and had allowed him to leave. “I’ll be back soon. But without a big ass joint next time,” he wrote.