Tekashi 6ix9ine Says Maduro Signed His SpongeBob

Tekashi 6ix9ine says he walked out of federal custody with a SpongeBob doll bearing the signature of one of his most famous fellow inmates. The rapper, whose legal name is Daniel Hernandez, posted video on Instagram Friday claiming deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro autographed his SpongeBob SquarePants toy while both were held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, reports the New York Post. "Look, Maduro signed it," he says in the clip, showing off a scrawl on the doll and markings that he said meant, "Maduro, second of April, Venezuela forever."

The Bureau of Prisons and the rapper's attorney confirmed to TMZ that 6ix9ine was released early Friday. Maduro has been held at the same facility since January after being captured in Caracas by US forces. He and his wife face federal drug-trafficking charges. 6ix9ine landed back in MDC in January for violating probation, following a 2019 racketeering case tied to the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. This time, authorities said he assaulted a man and kept MDMA and cocaine in his bedroom.

Upon release, he celebrated with what he described on Instagram as a more-than-$2 million, nearly 400-carat chain. In the same post, he wrote, "Fresh OUT THE FEDS $2,200,000 on my neck," and capped it off with a reference to his new keepsake: "MADURO SIGNED MY JAIL HOUSE SPONGE9INE."