BUSTA BANNED FROM NY FILM SET: NYPD alerts production crew citing public safety concerns

Busta Rhymes, born Trevor Smith, was all set to begin shooting his new film “Order of Redemption” in Manhattan Saturday during its first day of production when the New York Police Department, citing security concerns, stepped in to block his participation.


"The production agreed that Busta Rhymes would not be participating in the scenes shot here after the Police Department raised public safety concerns," said Julianne Cho, associate commissioner with the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting.


The exact nature of the security concerns were not disclosed by the NYPD, who happens to have an existing beef with Rhymes after he refused to cooperate with an investigation into the shooting death of his bodyguard Israel Ramirez last year. His murder is still unsolved.


"This is tremendously unfair to Busta, who has been nothing but professional during this project," director Jeff Celentano said in a statement. "This is a bigger loss for the city of New York."

"Order of Redemption," which shot in midtown Saturday without Rhymes, is a crime drama starring Academy Award nominee Tom Berenger. According to the AP, the film will continue to shoot in New York City for 14 nonconsecutive days into early April.


No arrests have been made in the February 2006 slaying of Ramirez outside a Brooklyn recording studio.