Celebrity Bodyguard Faces Jail Time for Protecting Trey Songz

In a shocking turn of events, renowned celebrity bodyguard Cornell Whitfield, who has protected stars like Lil Kim, NFL sports icons Trevon Diggs and Deebo Samuels, and even the son of Sean Combs, Junior Combs, has found himself facing a year in a Dubai jail. His alleged crime? Stepping in to protect Grammy-nominated R&B sensation Trey Songz from a potential attack. 

The incident unfolded when the celebrity bodyguard Whitfield was accompanying Trey Songz as part of his security detail as they left the opulent FIVE Palm Jumeirah hotel.

The two were confronted by an aggressive Jordanian national, who began shouting, swearing, and wildly waving his arms at the group. As part of his duties, Whitfield tried to defuse the situation by gently tapping the man’s face, which seemed to have the desired effect as the individual backed off. 

What seemed like a professional and responsible act of crowd control took an unexpected turn when Whitfield returned to Dubai two months later. He was suddenly arrested on an assault charge and informed that the man he had touched had filed a criminal complaint. The accuser demanded a staggering £49,000 ($60,000) for Whitfield to have the charges dropped. 

Unable to come up with the exorbitant sum, Whitfield now finds himself in a legal quagmire, facing a one-year jail sentence in Dubai. Although he is currently out on bail, he remains stranded in the United Arab Emirates, unable to reunite with his family in Miami, Florida. 

This bizarre situation mirrors a recent case where American student Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos was handed a year-long jail sentence for allegedly assaulting a security guard at the country’s international airport. Her sentence was commuted thanks to pressure from the Detained in Dubai group, which is also assisting Whitfield in his efforts to return home. 

Radha Striling, the founder of Detained in Dubai, describes the situation as a recurring issue in Dubai’s legal system, where accusers often provoke situations to secure financial compensation potentially. She notes that visitors to Dubai, including both tourists and celebrities, may inadvertently fall foul of the emirate’s strict laws, potentially leading to jail time. As such, she suggests that people think twice before traveling to Dubai, where a trip could sometimes be a one-way ticket to incarceration. 

Whitfield remains hopeful, stating, “I was only doing my job. The whole thing has been a nightmare. I just want to go home to my family.” Many of his former clients have pledged to help raise the funds necessary to secure his return, highlighting the extraordinary lengths people will go to protect one another in the world of celebrity security.