Ice-T Provides Comic Relief Amid Soaring Gas Prices With Viral Twitter Joke

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Ice-T used to rob banks and jewelry stores in his youth before he became a gangsta rap and Hollywood icon, but it was the Original Gangster who was the victim of daylight robbery earlier this week — or so fans thought.

On Thursday (March 24), Ice-T posted a tweet that started out as a somber account of a recent robbery attempt at a gas station, but ended with a brilliant plot twist that had people rolling on the floor.

“I was robbed at a gas station in NJ last night,” he wrote. “After my hands stopped trembling..I managed to call the cops and they were quick to respond and calmed me down….. My money is gone.”

He continued, “the police asked me if I knew who did it..I said yes.. it was pump number 9.”

Ice-T’s tweet has racked up over 130,000 retweets and 850,000 likes, turning the rap legend into a trending topic on Twitter throughout Thursday.

Among those caught out by his viral joke was fellow rapper Freddie Gibbs. “Man U had me reading this shit like nooooo not Ice,” he replied along with crying face emojis.

Of course, Ice-T’s tweet comes in response to soaring gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, the average price for gasoline in the U.S. reached a record $4.3 per gallon, with that figure expected to rise to $5 per gallon by Memorial Day Weekend in May.

The situation is so dire that shopping app Klarna announced last week they’re now letting users pay for their fuel in installments at Chevron and Texaco gas stations. The price increase is also being felt in many countries around the world.

This isn’t the first time Ice-T has trended on Twitter recently. In September, fans of the gangsta rap pioneer came out in droves in response to a hot-take tweet claiming he had “zero joints.” Among them was Questlove, who reminded the user, “High Roller/New Jack Hustler/Original Gangsta/Colors/6 In The Mornin’ are MAJOR jawns.”

After catching wind of the commotion, Ice-T told HipHopDX, “If you’ve played the game right, your fans will always hold you down when some clown ass tries to diss on the low. I may not be in anybody’s Top 5, but I’ve taken Hip Hop for a ride I hope others get to enjoy. Thanks to all that fuck with me.”

Check out more reactions to Ice-T’s gas prices joke below.