Kanye West’s LAX Paparazzi Scuffle: Gloria Allred Announces Lawsuit

Attorney Gloria Allred has announced the filing of a lawsuit against Kanye West over the Yeezus rapper’s confrontation with a videographer at LAX airport in mid-July. 

Daniel Ramos, the videographer, appeared alongside Allred at a news conference on Wednesday where footage of the incident was played. The attorney said the lawsuit covers assault, battery, and interference with Daniel’s right to free speech. Ramos said that he now uses a crutch to get around after the “unprovoked” LAX airport incident a month ago. At the incident, Ramos says he told West twice, “I don’t want to fight you.”

Allred urged West to apologize. “That would be a start,” she said. “Kanye needs to do the right thing.” During the news conference, Allred also condemned other celebrities for supporting West’s paparazzi attack. Among those mentioned were Cher and Kirstie Alley.

The LAX airport scuffle, captured on camera by TMZ, showed West confronting the videographer who was filming him. “What you’re trying to do is get me in trouble,” West said in the video. The rapper appears to physically attempt to take the camera away from the videographer after a verbal altercation. 

A complaint filed Wednesday alleges that Ramos endured “great mental, physical and nervous pain and suffering” from the LAX scuffle. It says that the videographer “was prevented from attending to his usual occupation as a photographer and has suffered, and will suffer, lost earnings.”

Ramos, according to the complaint, suffered “sustained injuries to his right hip, as well as accompanying pain and emotional distress.” The filing states that the videographer is entitled to “punitive and exemplary damages” from West. 

The L.A. County District Attorney’s office declined to press a felony charge against West, but he could face misdemeanor charges, The Associated Press reported last week.