Rapper Joe Budden arrested after shocking naked act outside his New Jersey apartment

Former Eminem collaborator Joe Budden has been charged with indecent assault after the 44-year-old rapper was allegedly caught by his neighbor while standing naked in the hallway of his New Jersey apartment building.

The copywriter turned podcaster was handcuffed after being brought in by the neighbor, who saw the unapproved display on footage obtained from a Ring doorbell camera.

The footage showed the father-of-one completely nude, said officers in the town of Edgewater – who released a statement describing the incident on Monday.

It took place on December 4 and was even mentioned by Budden himself on his podcast, where he cryptically told his co-hosts that he was “sleepwalking somewhere.” [he] shouldn’t have sleepwalked.’

‘You know how I sleep naked… Nice naked sleepwalking. I just did it again,” Budden continued on his program of the same name.

‘No one could experience this except me. It’s just me. So you have to deal with what comes with that. You would never have guessed it.’

Days later, on December 10, the hip-hop B-lister tweeted, “I’m dealing with a personal family matter, please allow me to do so personally,” before disappearing from the airwaves for several days. He has since returned.

Meanwhile, he can also be seen in a recently released mug shot staring at the camera. Budden will appear in court on Jan. 16, Edgewater police said, as reports began to emerge about Budden’s alleged misconduct.

“At approximately 7:21 a.m. ET, Edgewater Police were dispatched to an apartment complex regarding a resident’s report of a man standing completely naked outside the door of their apartment,” the police statement said.

“The caller recognized the man as a neighbor, Joseph Budden Jr.,” he claimed, using the rapper’s full name.

“The caller was alerted to Budden by the doorbell camera,” police revealed. “The video showed Budden attempting to enter a code into the door keypad several times before re-entering his own home across the hallway.”

An investigation followed that led to Budden’s arrest.

Once booked, he was charged with indecency, Edgewater Police Chief Donald Martin confirmed, cautioning that the charges were merely accusations until Budden is proven guilty.

The charge, he said, stems from “sexual misconduct or indecency in public” and carries a jail sentence of six months and a $1,000 fine.

Budden, who fell out with Eminem not long after signing with Shady Records in 2011, has not yet commented on the looming case.

A post on his social media shows him seemingly living life as usual, with a post published around 2pm on Tuesday, New Year’s Eve, showing him sporting glasses with no written caption.

It did include a series of emojis – a smiley face with sunglasses, a pair of hands in the shape of a heart and a closed fist – although it is unclear whether they were related to the case.

Additionally, since returning to the podcast, Budden’s show has been recorded in a different location – not the usual studio in Edgewater.

Although Budden has kept relatively quiet about the incident, his attorney expressed the rapper’s disgust in a statement, telling TMZ on Tuesday, “Mr. Budden is saddened by Police Chief Martin’s press release.

‘Sir. Budden has been waiting weeks for his cross complaints to be processed, which include significantly more serious charges, including possible felony charges against the individuals behind these charges against him,” said Hackensack-based attorney Nima Ameri.

“The Chief, in our opinion, has been sitting on that, but has instead used his time to gain some free publicity for himself. Chief Martin should seek publicity by doing remarkable police work and not by fueling disorderly persons charges.”

“His choice to single out Mr. Budden, in our opinion, is self-motivated and based on Mr. Budden’s race and celebrity status,” she added.

In April, Budden bragged about making more than $7 million during his time as a podcaster, which started in 2015. He claimed to have made an estimated $4 million during that time – after the show was adopted by Spotify.

“We used to do it for free,” Budden said.

In 2022, Budden claimed that Eminem’s influence on him and other rappers detracted from their own talents.

“Whatever tension exists between me and my brothers exists solely because of the way we all view Em,” he said, four years after the Eminem-led rap group he belonged to, Slaughterhouse, broke up.

‘I just think the group could do better without him. I thought we were better than him.

‘I was always in control of my music. When we played all the music, we couldn’t hold it… By the time it came back, it was different. It wasn’t the same.’

He further claimed that Shady Records’ beats simply “weren’t for Slaughterhouse.” He must appear in court again next month.