Iconic Online Rapper Viper, Now 53, Arrested For Kidnapping Woman For Four To Five Years

On Thursday, January 4th, Lee Carter (known online as Viper) was arrested in Houston, Texas on suspicion of kidnapping a woman and keeping her hostage for four to five years.

According to reports filed, the woman claims that she talked to police in April 2023 when they came to Carter's home as part of an open investigation into allegations of kidnapping in progress.

After telling officers that she was picked up four to five years ago, was kidnapped by Carter while panhandling and was forced to live in his garage, she alleged that Carter forced himself upon her multiple times over this period of time. Police arrested Carter and did a thorough check of the house for any other potential victims.

Lee Carter, or Viper, was an influential piece of early independent rapping online. His self-published album, You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack was the first of a long line of albums with outlandish names and on-the-nose lyrics and album art.

The community of fans that he cultivated over the years were quick to respond to the news by creating memes about Viper and what he was accused of, with some using the doxxed picture of his house to create a fake album art pretending to admit that he told people about the kidnapping previously.

The official Viper YouTube channel, however, had a surprise upload shortly after the news of his arrest came in.

Viper's associate and editor, who goes by the moniker "Kettle," had edited and uploaded a YouTube video in the style of Viper, titled "Viper – Youll Neva Find Out I Had Someone Locked Up In My Garage For 5 Years" with footage of Viper put on top of news coverage of his arrest, with ex-fans of his expressing their bewilderment at what he was accused of.