In April 2014, LA rapper Andre Johnson, AKA Christ Bearer, rose to sudden notoriety after a bizarre incident, in which he tried to cut off his own penis before jumping off a second-floor balcony at a party.
His friend’s call to 911 records the hysteria.
“Man we have a friend that was over here and he’s just cut his damn penis off! Goddamn, I don’t believe this shit!”
Two years on, in a new film for BBC Three, Christ Bearer: The rapper who chopped off his own penis, Johnson reflects on what led him to perform such an extreme act of violence against himself.
“I just jumped up, outta nowhere and I went to the kitchen,” he tells the film-makers, “I grabbed a knife and, bam, I pulled down my pants and” - he mimes a chopping motion - “that quick”.
At the time, it was reported with a mixture of shock and amusement. The American radio personality Charlemagne, of New York’s hip-hop radio station Power 105.1 named Christ Bearer his Breakfast Club show’s “Donkey of the Day” – an accolade reserved for those who’ve committed acts of unbelievable stupidity.
Doctors were unable to reattach the severed part of Johnson’s penis after surgery.
“I’m glad they couldn’t reattach your penis, because you don’t deserve it,” Charlemagne commented.
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