Luke wants people to learn from his experience contracting COVID-19. The 2 Live Crew founder revealed that he's tested positive for COVID-19; in a recent op-ed piece, the rapper/mogul revealed that he'd contracted the virus after he'd gone
to a birthday party at a local strip club.
“Recently, I joined the ranks of the more than 1 million Floridians who’ve caught the coronavirus. Throughout the pandemic, I had been strictly adhering to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, especially wearing a mask whenever I stepped out of my house. Then I gave in to the peer pressure of going out to a party,” he wrote for the Miami New Times. “Last month, a friend celebrating his birthday at a local strip club would not stop blowing up my phone. He kept begging me to come. I told myself I would go in for 15 minutes and duck out.”
He added that he'd been cautious up to this particular point, and he recognized immediately the dangerous atmosphere at the party.
“As soon as I walked through the doors, it was like stepping into a coronavirus-spreading chamber. Everybody was wildin’ out and getting drunk. Almost no one was wearing masks. My buddies were all up in my face. Patrons and strippers were walking up to me and asking to take selfies,” he shared. “Of course, I obliged when they asked me to take my mask off. Even though I felt like everyone in the club was an asymptomatic carrier, I stayed late.”
Luke is his using his experience to spread awareness and encourage the public to take the current situation more seriously.
"I am not advocating that local governments go back to shutting down nonessential businesses. I think we need to boost the local economy by being able to eat, drink, and be merry. At the same time, everyone bears personal responsibility. If you are a millennial or Gen Z'er, you have to think about the consequences of catching the coronavirus. You don't want to take it home and infect your parents and your grandparents. You don't want to be responsible for killing them.
So if you go out, put your mask on when you are not drinking or eating. You don't have to be all up on each other, either. You can still hang out at a six-foot distance from each other. And if the establishment has too many people not following the protocols, don't be afraid to go home and call it a night."