Ice-T is entering into the highlight for a different kind of role—narrating A&E’s upcoming two-hour particular Fame and Fentanyl, a documentary tackling the rising fentanyl epidemic and its deepening influence on the leisure trade. Set to premiere on August 25, the particular follows the veteran rapper and Law & Order: SVU star as he guides viewers by means of the opioid disaster from each private and cultural perspectives.

Produced amid an alarming surge in opioid-related deaths, Fame and Fentanyl focuses on how the highly effective artificial drug has infiltrated each nook of American life, together with Hollywood and the music trade. Ice-T, whose profession has lengthy centered on uncooked storytelling, speaks not as a distant commentator however as a peer mourning the lack of buddies and collaborators.

The documentary highlights the deadly overdoses of public figures, together with Prince, Mac Miller, Coolio, Tom Petty, and Euphoria actor Angus Cloud. It additionally revisits the 2021 dying of Michael Okay. Williams, whose fentanyl-laced heroin overdose reignited nationwide discourse.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl was answerable for greater than 80,000 deaths in 2023, adopted by an estimated 54,000 in 2024. These statistics supply a stark backdrop for a movie that confronts each movie star tragedy and widespread public struggling.

While the challenge spotlights family names, it doesn’t lose sight of the hundreds of lesser-known victims. It positions the disaster as not solely a public well being emergency, however a symptom of deeper points involving trauma, entry, and unchecked distribution. Ice-T’s narration seeks to interrupt the glamorized associations of fame with substance use, framing fentanyl abuse as an pressing cultural reckoning.

The particular comes on the heels of elevated federal enforcement, together with a historic fentanyl seizure by the DEA in May. Yet, the documentary makes clear that punitive measures alone gained’t curb the harm.

Known for his straight discuss, Ice-T delivers a transparent message in Fame and Fentanyl: “Don’t be a square. Stay off the dope.”

That blunt warning anchors a documentary designed not solely to tell, however to problem. With its emotional depth and well timed focus, the movie provides a robust new chapter to the nationwide dialog on dependancy and accountability.