The fan who paid Gully Bop’s bail bond and took him home

As tributes continue to roll in for late ‘from the gully to the money’ dancehall deejay Gully Bop, Olive Phillips a fan who was also said to be an ex-girlfriend, remembers the Body Specialist deejay as “the nice man” who she helped out in a time of need. With a reputation for working his charm on his female fan base, it was not surprsing that when Gully Bop found himself in trouble with the law in the United States, it was Phillips who took it up on herself to pay his bail bond.

She told The Gleaner that it was her dream to meet Gully Bop, and she got the opportunity to do so in 2016 when she heard that he was behind bars in New York. Bop, born Robert Lee Malcolm, was arrested by New York police as he arrived at the John F. Kennedy Airport to board a flight back to Jamaica. Following his arrest, the entertainer was taken to Central Bookings in Brooklyn, New York, where he was slapped with domestic abuse and robbery charges. Phillips said when she heard of the incident, she went to the courthouse and paid the US$1,200 bond.

“I was a big fan of Gully Bop and wanted to meet him in person. When I heard that he was locked up and no one was going to help him, I went down to the courthouse and I asked someone to give me the correct spelling of his name. I saw someone come out that resembled him and I waved to him. They were going to take him to Rikers Island and then deport [him] to Jamaica,” she said.

Phillips said she paid the bail bond and Gully Bop enquired who she was after he was free.

“I bought him some food and he took it and feed the birds, and then ask a who me and what mi name. I took him home, and when I was downstairs I told my daughter to look down and see if it was Gully Bop indeed. I didn’t know he was a little man, I thought he was a big, strong man,” the New Yokd-based Phillips said.

She shared that Gully Bop stayed with her and her family for six months, and remembered him as “a very loving person”.

“He was a Mr Nice Man. He would cook and wash for us. He was just looking for love, because he didn’t know what it was. He got locked up again by his ex while he was living at my house. She said he had threatened her, and that was a lie. I felt really bad for him and I had to bail him out again, and this time I had to put up my house as a bail bond because, as I said, he became part of the family,” Phillips added.

Phillips said they were never romantically involved, but she played the role online “to get his ex girlfriend jealous”. She described him as “a loving soul, but one that was easily influenced by others”.

“We weren’t together, because I wasn’t looking for a man. We pretended to be together because he wanted A’mari to leave him alone. He had fallen in love with me afterwards, he told me that, but I was afraid because he loved to use his mouth. We use to just go in bed and acted out to hurt A’mari. He was a very loving person and he would wash and cook for me while I was at work. He was a nice man, but he couldn’t think for himself,” she said.

She said she began spending her cash on Gully Bop and turned him into a fashion icon, and that had caused her to gain enemies online. She said she was frequently cussed out by women, adding that “the fame had started to get to Bop’s head and he began to diss [her] also”.

“He was calling me monkey and was living at my house still. He said he was going to move out, and he took out all of his things and throw them outside, and then it began to spread that I had thrown him out, but I never did. I could have pulled up my camera footage, but I didn’t. He went to live with another woman and his ex locked him up again, and he was released; and that was when he came to Jamaica,” she said.

Phillips said when Gully Bop returned to Jamaica, he told her that he would not be returning to the United States as he was afraid he may go to prison. She said he absconded bail, and she went to the court session and gave an excuse for his absence. She said up to the date of his passing, there was a warrant out for his arrest.

“We use to talk all the time, and I would send money to a certain individual to take care of him. Him use to call mi and tell mi him sick and he didn’t know what was wrong with him. I felt bad when he died, and I am going to help with his funeral. I use to dress him up and dress him nicely; and mi feed him and treat him with love and respect. He wanted a relationship, but I didn’t want a relationship because mi ‘fraid a him mouth,” Phillips declared.

Despite her affection for the charismatic entertainer, Phillips said she will be unable to attend his funeral, which is set for next month. Gully Bop died at the Kingson Public Hospital on October 31. He was being treated for kidney-related illnesses.