Cape Town - Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Haynes, was arrested on second-degree rape charges after a woman claimed to have been raped by him on his tour bus on Saturday morning, according to TMZ.
Shortly after the news of his arrest broke, videos of the rapper seemingly serenading young children at his concerts emerged online.
In one video posted on Twitter, Nelly can be seen standing very close to a little girl and singing to her while flirtatiously playing with her hair.
“I appreciate you being here tonight. Can I do that?” Nelly asks the girl in the clip.
“How you doing? You okay? Have you started school already? Do you like your teacher?” he continued.
“Come here; stand right here. Face me.”
The child seems to be uncomfortable as Nelly leans in close to her face and touches her hair.
Another user posted a similar video of Nelly at another one of his concerts in Montana in the US.
Following his release from jail, the 42-year-old year old took to Twitter in the early hours of Sunday in the hope of setting the record straight regarding the rape accusation.
He tweeted that he’s the victim of a false allegation and is “beyond shocked to have been targeted”.
Nelly is currently on tour in Washington with country band Florida Georgia Line and is set to perform on Saturday.
The rapper who’s known for hit tracks Hot in Herre and Just a Dream also apologised to his family, saying “I do want to apologise to my loved ones for the embarrassment.”
He then thanked his fans, tweeting, “In other words y'all know damm well I ain't do no dumm S^*t like this!! Love!!!!”
The Washington police department said it received a call from a woman at 3.48am on Saturday “to report that she was sexually assaulted by a male who is known as the rapper Nelly”.
Although according to Metro the rapper hasn’t been charged pending further police investigation.
Nelly’s lawyer told TMZ he’s “the victim of a completely fabricated allegation. Our initial investigation clearly establishes the allegation to be devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vindictiveness”.
Nelly also said on Twitter that he wasn’t charged for a crime and therefore no bail was needed.