There’s caution. There’s extreme caution. And there’s Martin Shkreli. The businessman, who is facing criminal charges in the US for securities fraud, was called to testify before a Congressional committee investigating drug-price hikes on Thursday, and cited his fifth amendment right to remain silent over and over again.
Eventually a frustrated representative, Trey Gowdy, asked Shkreli about Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang clan album for which Shrkeli paid $2m.
“We can even talk about the purchase of Wu-Tang Clan – is that the name of the album? The name of the group?”
Shkreli declined to answer, citing the fifth.
“I am stunned that a conversation about an album he purchased could possibly subject him to incrimination,” Gowdy responded.
On Wednesday, however, Shkreli had found no difficulty discussing the album. He appeared on the US radio show the Breakfast Club, where he explained his reasons for buying the only copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. “There’s a lot of things rich guys do to show off,” he said. “The press thing is a part of it, but it’s also to show your friends, or your last company, like, ‘Hey, fuck you, look at me, I got this $2m album.’ Guys do that all the time.”
Shkreli became a controversial figure last year, when it was revealed his firm Turing Pharmaceuticals had raised the price of its Aids drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750. When the price rise was made public, the punk label Collect, in which Shkreli was an investor, cut its ties with the hedge-fund manager. Several of its bands had already said they would not work with Collect so long as Shkreli remained an investor.
Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah had also expressed his anger about the group’s album ending up in Shkreli’s hands, describing him as a “shithead” to TMZ. Shkreli responded with a bizarre video, in which he appears surrounded by hooded men and issues warnings to the rapper. “Most people don’t ever try to beef with me. Do you know why? Why do you guys think?” To which his cohort responds: “They ain’t stupid!”
Shkreli continues: “That’s a big mistake. You’re trying to reclaim your spotlight from my spotlight. That’s not going to work, Ghost.”
