Ice-T Reflects On “Cop Killer” Controversy
Ice-T has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind, but when it comes to controversy, the legendary rapper has some advice: if you’re going to say something bold, be prepared to stand by it — and maybe even lawyer up.
Ahead of his heavy metal band Body Count’s new album Merciless, Ice-T, now 66, answered fan-submitted questions in an interview with The Guardian. One fan asked about Body Count’s notorious 1992 protest song Cop Killer and if Ice-T felt the backlash or regretted its release.
Ice-T was quick to set the record straight. “I never really questioned myself, but the heat came when they started sending bomb threats to Warner Bros. I threw the rock, that’s my heat. But when other people could get hurt, that’s nerve-racking,” he said.
He added a warning for those who think stirring controversy is a quick path to fame: “Anybody that thinks controversy is a way to make money, it’s not. You get a lot of buzz, but now you need lawyers. So don’t just say something stupid and then back-pedal — if you’re going to say something, stand on it.”
When Cop Killer was first released, it caused an uproar. The song, written in response to police brutality, was met with intense criticism from law enforcement groups across the country. The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT) called for a boycott of Time Warner, Body Count’s record label, and police organizations nationwide followed suit. Some even claimed that the song had fueled violence against officers.
At the time, Ice-T defended the song, explaining that it was written from the perspective of a character pushed to the edge by police violence. “At no point do I go out and say, ‘Let’s do it.’ I’m singing in the first person as a character who is fed up with police brutality. I ain’t never killed no cop. I felt like it a lot of times. But I never did it,” he told the Associated Press.
Despite his defense, the backlash grew so intense that Warner Bros. executives and shareholders started receiving death threats. This pressure ultimately led Ice-T to pull Cop Killer from later copies of Body Count’s debut album.
“When people go after the company, that’s a real punk move,” Ice-T said at the time, adding, “They’re afraid to go after me. This is my fight — and Sister Souljah’s fight, Ice Cube’s fight.”
Even after decades, Ice-T stands by his views on law enforcement. At a 1992 press conference, he showed reporters a civil rights documentary before explaining why he never felt the need to “like the police.”
In his words: “I don’t understand why I’m supposed to like the police. None of my leaders liked them. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X. They’ve never been a friend of black people. As for the ones that are handling the job correctly, I have all the respect in the world for them. As for the brutal ones, I’d rather get rid of them before they get rid of me.”
Today, Ice-T plays an NYPD detective on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a role he’s held since 2000. But that doesn’t mean he’s changed his tune. When asked recently by a social media user if the show had gone “woke,” Ice-T had a blunt response: “What the F is woke? Lol. Like I give a f—.”
