The world still grieves the loss of DMX, but fans are celebrating the beloved rapper’s life. DMX‘s story is one riddled with abuse and abandonment from his mother to those he called friends. The rapper’s longstanding struggle with addiction has been well-documented, and X himself would openly speak about his issues with the hope that his story would help someone else. In a recent interview Talib Kweli, DMX shed tears as he detailed being exposed to hard drugs when he was 14-years-old. He claims his mentor, Ready Ron, laced his blunt with crack without his knowledge, creating the habit X battled his entire life.

Ready Ron didn’t speak about the allegation immediately after X’s interview circulated last November, but he’s defending himself now. In a video recently shared on social media, Ron refuted DMX’s story.

DMX, Ready Ron, Drug Abuse
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“How was I thirty-years-old in 1985 and he was 14,” said Ron. “And him and I  are only three years apart. You gotta remember, just because somebody is world-famous doesn’t mean they’re always honest. And I’ve got nothing bad to say about him but you gotta stop lying on me.” He reportedly told The Neighborhood Talk that he’s “been receiving hate mail” due to the allegations.

“We were kids and we were getting high back then, I wasn’t the one to expose him to crack,” he added. Ron also shared that he was asked to appear on BET’s Ruff Ryders Chronicles documentary but claims his portions didn’t make it to air. After his video began to circulate, DMX‘s fans have come forward to criticize Ron for his timing. Watch Ready Ron’s video and read through a few reactions below.