Originally posted Friday April 18, 2008 03:25 PM EDT
After eight months in prison – including 40 days in solitary confinement – rapper Foxy Brown was released Friday.
Brown, 29, left the Rose M. Singer facility at Rikers Island Correctional facility in New York at 12:05 p.m., and was greeted by a swarm of photographers and fans as she exited a white Rolls Royce Phantom on the Queens side of the Rikers Island bridge.
"I feel good," she said to the crowd. "I'm back home." Brown, wearing a brown leather blazer, a gold cross, blue jeans, and a brown Fendi head scarf cried as she hugged friends. She even singled out a couple people, saying, "These are my two number one fans. They are like family."
After the teary reunion, Brown's entourage went to LaGuardia Inn so the rapper could talk to the press.
"My family never missed a visit in eight months, ever. I cried coming out. I didn't cry coming in. There's a big difference. I believe that God put me there for a reason, Incarceration is serious," she told Access Hollywood. Adding that the first place she wanted to go after her "learning experience" was church. "He got me through," she said.
Later Friday Brown was spotted buying a pocketbook and two pairs of shoes at a store called Signature in Harlem near the Apollo Theater, where she was again mobbed by fans and photographers.
Her History
The rapper, born Inga Marchand, was sentenced to a year in prison last September for violating the terms of her probation stemming from an altercation over payment for a manicure with two employees at a New York nail salon in 2004.While on probation, she was arrested twice last year, for throwing her BlackBerry at a neighbor, and for scuffling with an employee at a beauty-supply store in Florida.
Despite the early release, Brown's stint in prison was rather rocky. In November 2007, she received 76 days in punitive isolation for various offenses, including shoving another inmate during a fight – but served only 40 days for good behavior.
Brown's next album, Brooklyn Don Diva, is set for a May 13 release. She's also shopping a reality TV show, according to her publicist.
