Joe Budden Charged With Lewdness in New Jersey

Joe Budden has been charged with lewdness in New Jersey, according to the Edgewater Police Department.

The EPD released a statement on Monday (Dec. 30) confirming law enforcement was dispatched to an apartment complex in Edgewater on Dec. 4 for a report claiming a man was standing naked outside a residence around 7:21 a.m. ET

According to the release, the person who called police had been alerted to a man at their door by the doorbell camera, and the caller recognized the man as 44-year-old neighbor Budden. The clip showed Budden attempting to enter numbers onto the keypad multiple times before heading back to his residence across the hall.

Budden was charged with lewdness, a disorderly persons offense, on a complaint summons. He’s due back in court on Jan. 16 at 3 p.m. ET.

“These charges are merely accusations,” chief of police Donald A. Martin noted in the press release. “The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Billboard has reached out to Joe Budden’s reps for comment.

The “Pump It Up” rapper detailed his absence from his eponymous podcast and the incident earlier this month. “I just sleptwalked somewhere I shouldn’t have sleptwalked,” he told his co-hosts. “You know how I sleep — butta–. Nice nakeda–. Good naked sleepwalking. I just did it again.”

Budden continued to explain to his puzzled co-hosts: “Nobody could go through this stuff but me. It’s only me. So you gotta deal with what comes with that. You would’ve never guessed it.”

“No need for think pieces guys, I’m dealing with a personal family matter, pls allow me to do so personally,” Budden tweeted on Dec. 10. “Super grateful to each member of the crew for holding it down in my absence, thank you.”

In the time since, Budden returned and The Joe Budden Podcast has been filming episodes at a different location.