New Jersey Judge Catches Investigation for Rapping to Nas & Busta Rhymes on TikTok

A New Jersey judge is under scrutiny for posting a series of TikToks where he’s seen rapping to music from Nas and Busta Rhymes. Last Friday (June 30), Superior Court Judge Gary N. Wilcox had a complaint filed against him by the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. The committee alleges that between April 2021 to March 2023, Wilcox posted 40 TikTok clips under the username ‘Sal Tortorella.’

The New Jersey Globe reports that the TikTok content features “profanity, graphic sexual references to female and male body parts, violence, misogyny, and racist terms.” The Advisory Committee highlighted a video where Wilcox raps along to Nas’ 2003 song “Get Down,” claiming that “the song contains explicit lyrics concerning a criminal case and a courtroom shooting as well as derogatory and discriminatory terms, drug and gang references, and the killing of a doctor in a hospital who treated another gang member.”

In another TikTok, Wilcox lip-syncs to Busta Rhymes’ 2006 single “Touch It,” with a caption that reads “When an ex-girlfriend calls you ‘Santa’ because of your new white beard.” Other songs that Wilcox featured on his TikTok page were Miguel’s “Sure Thing” and Rihanna’s “Jump.” The judge’s TikTok has since been removed from the platform after reaching 100 followers. Wilcox has since responded to the Advisory Committee by hiring attorney Robert B. Hille.

“I don’t think that at the end of the day, anybody is going to believe there was any desire to do any harm here,” Hille said, per The New York Times. “Hindsight is 20-20.”