Lil Uzi Vert Almost Lost His Health Insurance Because of the Diamond Implanted in His Forehead

Lil Uzi Vert‘s forehead diamond made headlines throughout 2021. The rapper‘s unique piece of jewelry has been a subject of discussion in the music industry and beyond — including the world of healthcare.

Lil Uzi Vert had a diamond implanted in his forehead

Rappers often adorn themselves with jewels as a status symbol to show just how much money they have. Over the years, MCs have rocked chains, belts, and other accessories complete with diamond and gold detailing.

In February 2021, Lil Uzi Vert took it to the next level by having a pink diamond implanted in his forehead. Reportedly worth $24 million, the diamond came from luxury jeweler Elliot Eliantte. It was technically a piercing — more specifically, a dermal piercing, as artists such as Cardi B have had before.

“Beauty is pain,” the “XO Tour Llif3” singer said in an Instagram video of his bling.

Lil Uzi Vert almost lost his health insurance because of his diamond

The precious diamond soon proved to be more of a problem for Lil Uzi than a cool thing to show off. In a December 2021 appearance on the Scuffed podcast, the rapper said that his health insurance company wanted to drop him from their coverage.

He wasn’t rocking his signature jewel at the time, but showed the roundtable of Twitch streamers that parts of it are still implanted in his forehead. “This is actually the back post of it,” he said. “It was pretty heavy; it was like ripping my forehead, so I had to let it re-heal.”

While he’s been letting the area heal itself, he’s been reflecting on the move to get his forehead pierced with a diamond in the first place. “I had to really get all my s*** together,” he said. “My insurance tried to cut me off. They were like, ‘This kid’s trying to kill himself.’ They really were. Because we knew it was a piercing, my insurance looked at it like, ‘O.K., this kid just implanted this diamond in his head. He’s gonna die.’”

Lil Uzi Vert had his diamond ripped out

To avoid being kicked off his health insurance, he had to prove to them that his piercing was done in a safe way and wasn’t going to hurt him. “I really had to call the piercing person and show them low-key everything, like, it’s literally a piercing,” he said, commenting that “everything is straight” now.

Lil Uzi first started saving up for the custom Eliantte diamond in 2017, and he finally had it set between his eyebrows in February 2021. He temporarily took it out in June after it started causing him to bleed, but had it re-implanted the following month.

In September 2021, the diamond came out again — but not by choice. The rapper went crowdsurfing at Rolling Loud festival in Miami. While riding the crowd, the diamond was ripped out of its socket.