Luther Campbell is a very different person from his alter ego, Uncle Luke, front man of the ground breaking rap group 2 Live Crew. The man who took on the Supreme Court and prompted the change in obscenity laws in music has evolved into a socially conscious high school football assistant coach who ran for Mayor of the City of Miami earlier this year.
Luke and Luther are, and have always been, two distinct parts of the same person. One thing they both have in common though is an undying love for “The U”. When you make a list of the most famous names associated with University of Miami, names like Ray Lewis, Bennie Blades, Jerome Brown and coaches like Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson are usually the first to come to mind. But if you watch the 30 for 30 Documentary “The U”, Luther Campbell is featured as much as any of the players in the clip.
So when Yahoo! News broke the scandal of alleged Ponzi schemer and UM Booster Nevin Shapiro’s involvement with the program, Luther Campbell was not a happy man.
When he heard that the 5’5″ jock sniffer was using the moniker “Lil’ Luke”, Campbell ethered him in the media.
Now, if you watched “The U” or know anything about Campbell’s involvement with Miami in the 80’s, you know the allegations that Campbell would pay bounties for hits on opposing players. Even though nothing was proven, it is talked about with a “wink wink” and it is understood that something probably went on.
Campbell, who also pens a column titled “Luke’s Gospel” in the Miami New Times, wrote in a piece called Nevin Shapiro Can Kiss My Ass and proceeded to ether the wannabe.
You can’t be me just by reading a Dan Le Batard article in the Miami Herald from 21 years ago alleging I paid players for hits on the field. The NCAA investigated those accusations and found no wrongdoing on my part. This notion that I was paying players is false. It never happened.
If Nevin really wanted people to see him as “Little Luke,” he would have dedicated part of his life to helping kids in Miami’s inner-city neighborhoods get a college education. He certainly never started a youth athletic program that has been around for more than 30 years helping underprivileged parents in Liberty City mold their children.
It has never been about money for me. It has always been about community service. That’s what being Uncle Luke is really about.
Now yesterday it came out that Campbell is suing Shapiro for defamation because of his use of the name “Lil’ Luke” and the implication that his wrongdoing was mimicking Campbell’s never proven wrongdoing.
Now, Shapiro has bigger things to worry about and the judge will probably toss this lawsuit as soon as it comes across their desk, but I think it is important that Campbell stand up for The U and also for his name. He has the legal recourse to go after Shapiro with frivolous lawsuit, so more power to him. Any more crap they can pile on the troll is OK with me.