Lil Nas X Gets Second Chance Through Mental Health Program

After months of uncertainty, Lil Nas X is stepping into a new phase of his life, one focused on healing and growth. The artist says he feels “thankful” after being allowed into a mental health diversion program, nearly eight months after his arrest on felony charges.

The singer appeared at a court hearing in Los Angeles on Monday, April 6. During the hearing, Judge Alan Schneider said the star “appears to be doing very well,” according to Rolling Stone.

Schneider reportedly told the court that Nas’s arrest in August was “aberrant from his normal conduct,” and that the incident stemmed from his bipolar disorder diagnosis.

Nas, whose real name is Montero Hill, was accused of using “force and violence [to] inflict an injury” on three police officers, according to a criminal complaint. He pleaded not guilty to three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer.

At the hearing, Schneider granted Hill entry into a mental health diversion program. This means that if he continues his treatment and avoids legal trouble for the next two years, the charges will be dismissed, Rolling Stone reported.

“When treated, he is much better off, and society is much better off,” Schneider said. Hill had faced up to five years in prison if convicted.

Hill’s defense lawyer, Christy O’Connor, shared that the Grammy winner completed nearly two months of “absolutely successful” inpatient care at The Meadows in Arizona after voluntarily checking himself in.

O’Connor also described his current routine as “pretty rigorous,” explaining that he meets weekly with a psychotherapist and has psychiatry appointments every three months following his “humiliating” arrest, according to PEOPLE.

“I’m thankful. Just very thankful. It could have been much worse,” Hill told Rolling Stone after the hearing. “[I’m] just going through the flow of life.”

His lawyer Drew Findling had earlier said in November that his client was “doing amazing, doing great” after leaving the inpatient program.

The singer last appeared in court in March, where he told reporters he “can’t wait to be back hugging” his fans.

“All I wanted to say is to my fans, I really love and I miss you, and I appreciate your support so much,” he said, according to Rolling Stone.

Hill’s father, Robert Stafford, spoke about the experience in an interview with The Sunday Times. He described visiting his son in jail and how emotional the moment was for both of them.

“We all have breakdowns every now and then, but the difference is, yours get played out in the public eye,” he recalled telling his son. “When I went to visit, he asked me to say, ‘Tell everybody I’m sorry they saw me like that.’ Even in that moment, he was apologizing to people for something he was going through."