Akon has finally explained how he accidentally gave French Montana a fake Hublot watch.
In a video interview with Real 92.3’s The Cruz Show, which premiered on YouTube on Friday (Oct. 21), Akon addressed the fake watch controversy, saying he was unaware that he gifted French Montana a fake Hublot because—at the time—he wasn't knowledgeable on luxurious watches.
To put the situation in context, in 2005, Akon bought two Hublot watches and decided to give one to French not knowing that he purchased knockoffs. "Back then, Hublot weren't really popular," Akon explained to Cruz and the gang at the 11:12-mark in the video below. "I get the watch I put one on, [French] came and [I] said, 'I got something for you bro.'"
According to the "Locked Up" singer, French Montana loved the watch initially but had the timepiece appraised and soon discovered that he was rocking a fugazi on his wrist.
"He was happy, I was happy. We lit, we lit," Akon recalled on The Cruz Show. "Now mind you, I’m not really knowing there’s specific brands [of] watches and all that, I wasn’t really a watch guy. I just saw something I liked that looked nice and I got it. French clearly went to his jeweler and got it checked out, and the jeweler was like, 'Yo, this is fake.'"
"I was like, 'What do you mean fake? The shit tick, don’t it? The shit work, right?'" he added.
Akon didn't have a clue that bought bootleg Hublots and felt hurt by French's insult of his gift.
"Not only was I upset because I paid, like, five grand for each watch," he revealed. "In my mind that was expensive for a watch. But obviously for a Hublot that was no money, that was a huge discount. So I’m like, 'This ungrateful ass nigga.'"
In a 2021 interview with Revolt TV's Drink Champs podcast, French Montana acknowledged that Akon gave him a fake Hublot and understood how the rapper-singer was conned into buying counterfeit watches. Although the Bronx rapper is still waiting for Akon to gift him a real luxury watch.
Nevertheless, according to Akon, their friendship has exponentially grown since the fake Hublot watch incident.