Flavor Flav says he was thrown out of the Backstreet Boys’ dressing room at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Wednesday, adding that his “spirit was broken” by the incident.

The founding Public Enemy member, 65, said he felt “weird” about the incident, which he described in a now-deleted tweet reported by Billboard and TMZ.

“I feel weird,,, I was invited to the Rockefeller Tree Lighting tonight and was escorted to my boys,,, THE BACKSTREET BOYS,,, and we were backstage in their dressing room,,, security came up to me and says @nbc doesn’t want me in this area and I have to go,” said Long Island native William Jonathan Drayton, Jr.

Flav said just as he was told to leave, a member of NBC’s social media team approached him “to capture social content.”

“What have I ever done to NBC or anyone? All I ever do is spread joy and love and I believe I did that for NBC at the Olympics,” Flav said in a subsequent post added. “I deleted the tweet but my spirit is broken.”

A user on

Hours later, Flav shared a celebratory video of himself in front of the illuminated, 74-foot-tall spruce tree.

The Daily News has reached out to representatives from NBC and the Backstreet Boys for comment.

Originally published: December 5, 2024 at 10:56 am EST