It was easy to understand why action star Steven Seagal, 48, was ready to play "Meet the Press" last weekend, reports PEOPLE. His new movie, "Exit Wounds" will hit theaters nationwide next Friday. But when it came to the New York press junket, Seagal's costar, rapper DMX, was nowhere to be seen, possibly because the hip-hop performer had only been released from Buffalo, N.Y. jail the day before. DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, had hobbled out of jail on crutches, claiming that a guard had assaulted him during a cell inspection Wednesday. He was behind bars as part of a sentence delivered after his car had spun out of control in Buffalo in January of 2000. Police discovered he lacked a driver's license, but he did have some marijuana in the car. And although DMX attended the Friday night premiere of "Exit Wounds" with Seagal at a Manhattan theater, he was not at the Saturday press conference. That left the pony-tailed Seagal to meet a bunch of quiet reporters. "Ask me something!" announced Seagal. "I'm not just here to meditate, man." Fair enough. So, who are Seagal's favorite rappers? "Boy," he answered, "there are so many great hip- hop guys I love out there at the moment. I love Shaggy and DMX, and I like Lil' Kim." He then refuted press reports of last year that he had bombarded Li1' Kim with flowers and denied that the two had been anything more than just friends.