Before Lin Manuel-Miranda became a surrogate for woke and wealthy liberalism, he was a victim of bullying. Earlier this week, in an interview with podcast king Marc Maron, the Hamilton creator revealed that he went to high school with rapper Immortal Technique, who “terrorized kids, he threw them in the garbage.” Alas, Miranda was one of the kids who got thrown in the trash.
Because this is Broadway’s biggest breakout star of the moment, Immortal Technique had to issue a reply. So he offered his side of the story in an email to Complex, saying his youthful actions ran deeper than simply throwing kids into trash cans.
“I want to be very clear with my supporters, I wasn’t just a bully as a kid, I was a criminal. I lived a very violent life,” he said. “I did way worse things that I don’t choose to glorify—things worse than harassing kids and put them in trash cans. I robbed, I stole, I sold drugs, I ran with gangs. I have never hidden this part of myself. In a way, growing out of that helps me relate to the kids out there, sometimes a lot more than people who never experienced these things. But I can’t excuse my behavior by simply claiming I lived in a non-gentrified NYC.”
And Miranda seems to have gotten over the bullying: Immortal Technique says they’re friends now.
“We have always been very proud of each others’ success, and we even joked about these articles with each other on Twitter over the weekend,” said Immortal Technique, referring to the numerous articles that noted Miranda’s appearance on Maron’s WTF. “To this day, I’m appreciative to say that we are friends, we are both staunch supporters of immigrant rights, and we will continue the fight against bigotry in our respective ways.”
Good for them. Did Immortal Technique ever get an invite to see Hamilton, though?
