Rap star faces drink-drive charge
Hip-hop star Queen Latifah is facing a drink-driving charge after being stopped by police as she drove her Cadillac through Hollywood.
The rapper was pulled over early on Wednesday morning after her driving while changing lanes attracted the attention of traffic officers, said a California Highway Patrol spokesman.
“They found that she was under the influence. It was a routine arrest,” said officer Alex Delgadillo.
The 32-year-old presented a driver’s licence bearing her real name, Dana Owens, and then failed a drink-drive test, he added.
She was released on €3,150 bail, and is due to appear in court on December 11.
The arrest comes as she prepares for a role as a jail matron in the film Chicago, which is being given its world premiere in London on December 8.
Latifah, the daughter of a police officer, pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in 1996 after a loaded gun was found in her car when she was stopped for speeding in Los Angeles.
The previous year she was the victim of a carjacking in New York City in which a companion was shot.
If convicted this time she faces three years probation, a fine and mandatory alcohol-education classes.
Latifah rose to prominence as a feminist rapper with her 1989 debut, All Hail the Queen.
She won a Grammy Award in 1995 for best rap solo performance for U.N.I.T.Y.
