DMX vacated the Erie County Correctional Facility in New York State on Friday, after serving a fifteen-day sentence for driving without a license, just in time to visit New York City where his new film, Exit Wounds, was being screened at the Ziegfeld Theater.

DMX's release was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but a dispute within the prison extended his stay. Prison authorities allege that the rapper hurled a cafeteria food tray at a guard, which earned him an additional charge of assault. The rapper left the prison on crutches, claming that he was injured by a guard.

Despite the setback, he was able to get from the Buffalo area to the theater just after 7 p.m. and was greeted with greater applause than his co-star Steven Seagal. Whatever injury his leg sustained, he still managed to take the stage at a private room at NYC's Rainbow Room for a short set that included "No Sunshine," from the film's soundtrack, at a party following the screening. Exit Wounds, which features DMX in his third major feature film role (following Belly and Romeo Must Die), opens March 16th.

ANDREW DANSBY
(March 13, 2001)