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French Montana’s new documentary is dedicated to his mom, Khadija, and other immigrant moms who have “sacrificed for their kids in this country,” the rapper shared in a TMZ Live interview on Wednesday (Nov. 20).
Montana, whose birth name is Karim Kharbouch, immigrated to America from Morocco when he was 13 years old. His mom worked three jobs to support the family after his father moved back to the North African country.
“We overstayed [our] visas,” Montana recalled. “My father was trying to create an opportunity for us to live the American dream, but he didn’t succeed at that. He got tired of it. He wanted to go back to Africa and live like a king. He told my mom ‘We can take all the kids and leave French here.’ My mother said ‘I’m not going to leave my son here,’ so he said ‘You can stay with him.’ He felt like she betrayed him.”
“He left me, my mother, my two little brothers. None of us spoke English. I couldn’t get a job, couldn’t go to school. I didn’t have paperwork. The only thing to do was to hustle and hit the streets. It was something that happened by mistake and turned into a miracle.”
The French Montana Story: For Khadija, premiered at the Tribeca Film festival last year. The documentary has been eight years in the making, partially because the process of getting his mother a green card and reuniting her with family in Morocco for the first time in 25 years.
“She’s the real French Montana,” he said. “She’s the one that sacrificed.”
“It shining a light on a mother’s love,” he added of the film. “A light on all mothers, especially immigrant mothers that sacrificed for their kids in this country.”
Later in the interview, Montana talks U.S. immigration laws and collaborating with Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of president-elect Donald Trump. “I’m not too involved in politics, Laura Trump was somebody I knew on a personal level but honestly, I don’ t like the immigration laws. Hopefully we can do something about that,” he added. “That’s all a conversation, something I would have to speak to [Laura about] to try and talk some sense into him [Trump].”
How to Watch French Montana’s Documentary on Paramount+
The French Montana Story premiered on Paramount+ on Tuesday (Nov. 21).
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Watch French Montana’s TMZ Live interview below.
