Remy Ma denies shooting friend

NEW YORK, July 17 (UPI) -- New York rapper Remy Ma has denied shooting her friend over allegations the friend took $3,000 from the singer's purse.

"I didn't shoot my friend. I didn't shoot nobody," said the rapper, real name Remy Smith.

Smith was released from jail on Sunday after she allegedly shot Makeda Barnes-Joseph twice in the abdomen Saturday because the rapper suspected Barnes-Joseph of taking about $3,000 out of her purse during a birthday party. She was released after her manager put up his house as collateral for a $250,000 bond.

The weekend incident is the latest involving violence and the hip-hop artist, the New York Post said Tuesday.

A man recalled for the Post how the rapper pulled a gun on him in 2003 because he had allegedly slapped her niece. Alvin Lewis said Smith, who lived in the same apartment building at the time, pointed a pistol to his head, and asked, "Do you like hitting women?"

He said he tried to tell her he didn't hit her niece, but Smith aimed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger.

It must have been a starter's gun, Lewis said, because, "if it was real, I wouldn't have been here."