chron.com | tubular tv | comics | games | horoscopes | iPhone | Quick Search
Apple Friday in Houston: (Thomas B. Shea/for the Chronicle)
Oh, dear.
Fiona Apple ranted about her stay at a Sierra Blanca jail during Friday night's show at Bayou Music Center, calling out four people who she says acted "inappropriate and probably illegal." (Video below.)
Apple (whose last name is Maggart) was arrested last week at a border stop in Sierra Blanca, where a drug-sniffing dog found small amounts of hash and marijuana on her tour bus. She was held overnight at the Hudspeth County Jail and released Thursday after posting a $10,000 bond.
Now, Hudspeth County Sheriff's Dept. public information officer Rusty Fleming is firing back. In a letter posted to TMZ, Fleming advises Apple to "shut-up and sing." Wow:
First, Honey, I’m already more famous than you, I don't need your help. However, it would appear that you need mine....
Two weeks ago nobody in the country cared about what you had to say, -- now that you’ve been arrested it appears your entire career has been jump-started. Don’t worry Sweetie, I won't bill you...
Next, have you ever heard of Snoop, Willie or Armand Hammer? Maybe if you would read something besides your own press releases, you would have known BEFORE you got here, that if you come to Texas with dope, the cops will take your DOPE away and put YOU in jail.
Even though you and I only met briefly in the hallway, I don't know you but I'm sure you're an awesome and talented young woman and even though I'm not a fan of yours, I am sure there are thousands of them out there, and I’m sure that they would just as soon you get this all behind you and let you go back to what you do best—so my last piece of advice is simple "just shut-up and sing."
Sincerely
Rusty Fleming
"Only in Texas would a Sheriff write an open letter to an artist & send it to press starting w the words, "First, Honey," tweeted Solange Knowles.
"On behalf of my state, #SorryFiona. Just goes to show so clearly these cops luv ego-tripp'n, & use all the folks he so proudly mentions in his letter...to pet their pussy-cats.
"I especially love the part when the cop says 'I'm already more famous than you.'"
Apple has yet to respond. Let's hope she does, because this is amazing.
UPDATE: The Sherriff's Dept. has more to say, per an email I just received:
In response to recent public statement made by Fiona Apple the official position of the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s department are as follows;
1. If Miss Apple has a legal complaint we urge her to immediately contact the state Attorney General’s Office for the State of Texas. (We’ll give her the number if she needs that.)
2.) If she has an ethical complaint against any employee/jailer/deputy of this department, she needs to report that directly to the internal affairs division of the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office. (She spent the night with us here, so she probably already has that number.)
Solange, please just shut up and live in Beyonce's shadow...
agree!
I LOVE IT!
Who is this young woman?
Look like Mick Jagger with a dress on.
Any cop not working the streets and solving real crime is just a glorified meter maid as far as I'm concerned. Only interested in money, not public safety. Gotta pay for those salaries and donut breaks.
They were working the streets, genius. It was at a border stop. They are the ones who are trying to stop "real crime" like keeping terrorists, human traffickers, drug smugglers and the like out of our country.
Typical Texas "COP" behaveure here in Texas. Fiona.... Make him shutup when the people of Texas don't get to see you in concert BECAUSE of that @55H0l3 cop!!! I would travel to another state to see you!!! and Directly to Rusty Fleming...... Cornutto!!! (Any Italians in the house?)
Why is it Republicans continue to randomly capitalize words with no sensible reason why? Rusty Fleming is a testament to the Texas educational system.
How do you know the guy's a Republican?
Random capitalization? Funny, you must be a product of the dumbass educational system. His caps weren't random and were used for EMPHASIS! Or did that escape your 2-bit grammar skills?
Sweetie?!? Jesus Christ, how unprofessional could you possibly be?
What a power hungry, egotistical POS!
Solange is right. What a condescending idiot. And no, I don't think Rusty Fleming is more famous than Fiona Apple--except maybe in Hickville TX.
she should thank them for the arrest, i thought she was Dead or Canadian.
Fiona is a douche bag and just got a good talking from the daddy figure she so obviously needs.
Yeah! Shut up.
I'm not going to pick sides here because they're both acting like a couple of idiots.
Ding, ding, ding!!! We have a winner!! Amazingly, this is the only sensible comment posted on the entire thread.
Only thing more stupid then the rant going on between this tin star sheriff and the singer is how stupid it is that we waste time and money going after people who obviously use some pot and hash for their own recreational purposes. Had her bus had bottles of gin there would be no problem yet alcohol has much worse effects on people then the 2 drugs they found in this case.
Legalize it, regulate it and put a nominal tax on it and quit wasting time and money on prohibition which never worked with alcohol!
These cops must be so tough and so brave to be out there taking down 120lb women with SMALL AMOUNTS OF POT. So brave.
Amen!
To call everyone in Texas "hicks, ignorant, or stupid" just isn't right, she should have come to the live capitol of the nation, aka Austin. We love to burn here, ever hear of Reggae Fest? It was supported by the Marley family for years. I do agree that a huge majority of the population in the Lone Star State are very old fashioned and against anything they do not understand. But believe me when I say there are some very nice people here in Texas.... you just gotta come to AUSTIN! :)
She accused them of doing something ILLEGAL! Imagine.
Hey Sierra Blanca cops: Don't you have something better to do than to harass tour buses for small amounts of pot and hash? These artists are generating more revenue than all of your ego-inflated busts of small time potheads. Why not be real men and go after the Mexican Drug Cartels that are pushing HUNDREDS OF POUNDS?
Simply put, these cops are cowards. They are not tough. They harass WOMEN with SMALL AMOUNTS OF POT. It's extremely lame and makes Texas look awfully dumb.
You really don't know crap about anything do you. If you did any fact checking before you posted your dribble you would have found that at a Border Patrol checkpoint drugs were found on her tour bus which she admitted belonged to her. She was then placed under arrest by U.S. Border Patrol agents and detained. After her arrest by the Border Patrol agents she was handed over to the Hudspeth County Sheriff's office. Now as for the fact that you called these officers cowards, the next time you pass through the Border Patrol Station on Sierra Blanca you could very easily step out of your vehicle and confront them about being cowards who harass woman with small amounts of drugs and see how tough you are.
It's "drivel," genius. "Dribble" is a verb.
I would love to critique the girl, but I have never heard of her.
me either, but she looks like she's doing something other than pot or hash, looks like a meth freak to me.
Well if she loses an arm and a leg and put in a wheelchair she will fit the hardened criminal profile in Texas.
Hey, sounds like wise-cracker (emphasis on cracker) Rusty Fleming wants to be famous. He has 15 minutes ... use them wisely Rusty.
Goobers should try to keep a low profile, unless they are re-enacting scenes from Smoky and the Bandit.
=/
That statement so utterly unprofessional that it really does call into question the sheriff department's actions.
I think both are starving of sex.
Hey Sugar, All I can say is Welcome to Texas, I hope you enjoyed your stay. The best way to steer clear of our "inappropriate" law officers is to keep your nose clean while passing through. I don't agree with the marijuana laws in Texas but they are what they are, and I betcha you'll find many inmates wishing they could trade places with you and your "one" night in jail.
Hudspeth County is a joke, if the sheriff is any example. He's more famous than Fiona Apple? Until he arrested her and I read his name, he was just another anonymous, faceless, wannabe. He's looking for his 15 minutes.
I usually support our police, but this guy is a joke.
Billy Bob got a Badge...
Who is Fiona Apple?
Solange is the one that carries Beyonce's diaper bag.
Wish they'd outlaw booze, it kills way more people than pot.
This cop watches too many cowboy movies and thinks he is one of the stars
To all the above posters talking crap about the Great State of Texas, maybe you can tell all of your friends, family, and relatives that have moved here the past 5 years while your economies crumbled to go back home ?
the police officer needs to be fired
How stupid is Fiona Apple? There have been numerous celeb busts at Sierra Blanco. Enough that everyone should know about the grandstanding hicks who run the place.
So what does Fiona do? She goes out and tells the deputies "yep, I have pot and hash." Stupid enough for you?
Or perhaps not. Apple is on tour for the first time in five years and probably needs the publicity. We KNOW the Hudspeth County guys like the publicity.
The whole incident sounds like Dumb and Dumber.
I feel just a bit safer with men like that around protecting me from pot smoking celebrities on tour. Good man.
Oh...and I think I know Fiona's next career move...guesting on the Walking Dead.
Please don't refer to Gary Rusty Fleming as any type of peace officer. The only thing Rusty can be called is a leach on Hudspeth County. He has never been a peace officer or worn any badge. For him to say anything about anyone's drug abuse or drug use is simply outrageous. This man has spent more time in jail for drug abuse or drug use, and still get stopped at the same check point at Sierra Blanca from time to time. Rusty and Sheriff West are only using this for their own 15 minutes of fame. Just like they did after Willie Nelson was arrested. Poor Willy had to play for the Texas sheriffs Association convention in Houston. (look it up) another fact is it was not the sheriffs department who made the arrest, but instead it was the border patrol who just handed the arrest over. Rusty Fleming is a joke, and insult to any hard-working peace officer. Prior to hooking up with Sheriff West, the only police Fleming knew was the one taking him to jail. To hear this POS referred to as a police officer makes my blood boil.
guess my heroin chic comment didn't make the cut?
Here's a real simple solution to legalization. A. Defendant should always request a trial by jury. B. Jury should acquit.
There you go. If the majority of folks out there are so gungho about legalizing drugs, then that's where your movement needs to start. Folks in government are too worried about their reelections to risk an ad from an opponent that shows some 17 year old kid who died as a result of a recently legalized substance. Truth.
I'll check into it, but really seems like there should be a website of some sort where people could pledge to acquit? The laws are by the people and for the people, if we don't agree with them then there are multiple avenues of recourse...some more simple than others.
Rusty, Fiona and Solange. Three wanna-be's that won't ever become has-beens.
WR2
"Y'all have the right to remain silent. Anything y'all say, can and will be used against y'all..."
On behalf of my state, we wish Solange would move out like her sister.
I had no idea Texas belonged to you.
She looks like she's been rode hard and put up wet. I'm shocked it was hash and weed and not cocaine or meth - she looks bad.
Yeah, this nobody is clearly famous for being a dumb sexist
Solange Knowles can speak?
the huspeth county officers are crooks. They pulled me over for going under the speed limit. Go firgure. They harass you and talk down on you. The only good people in huspeth are the bramletts. Sorry but huspeth is a bad place
You can't even spell the name of the place mentioned in the article correctly with it right in front of you. I doubt you even know where you got pulled over.
The letter from Rusty Fleming is shockingly unprofessional. Also, Rusty Fleming is famous for being a bitter asshole, whereas Fiona Apple is famous for making good music and this has actually contributed something positive to this world. Rusty Fleming's Sherrif Dept. just pointlessly arrests famous people for something that shouldn't even be a crime. How is arresting Willie Nelson helping the world? It isn't. Rusty Fleming and all the other wannabe Joey Arpaios can go suck it.
They All Deserve Each other Send the Sheriff & Fiona Apple To some uninhabited South SEA Island & Leave them there. I just HOPe they Don't Reproduce.
I was also arrested at Sierra Blanca Checkpoint DHS for possession of MJ and Hash Oil, need an attorney or legal advice. Talk about a Police state, nice welcome to Texas.