JohnCenaFan28
11-16-2008, 08:41 PM
Rapper Kanye West has criticised paparazzi photographers after he was briefly arrested following an incident at a Newcastle nightclub.
West was detained early on Friday morning following a complaint from freelance photographer Terry Blackburn.
But West, who featured on Estelle's number one single American Boy earlier this year, was released without charge.
"Right now, the paps are above the law and the people who they shoot are below it," he wrote on his official website.
Mr Blackburn told BBC 1Xtra on Friday the incident happened outside the *** *** Palace club in the city centre.
He said: "He had four women around him. As I approached the car which he was getting into, he ran around the back and I ran around the front to try and meet him around the side.
"Just a just as soon as I put my camera up to my face, that was it - he just pushed it in my face."
The incident left him with his nose "cut open", Mr Blackburn claimed.
'The damage was done'
But West said: "When I left the club, I was encountered by a thirsty paparazzi as usual. He felt he had more rights to my space than me, so I put my hand up to prevent him from taking my image.
"I didn't assault him, merely putting my hand up to cover his lens. My security yelled, 'Get the camera off him.'
"I guess in all the commotion the camera scraped his nose."
West was later arrested by officers at his hotel in Gateshead, and taken to a police station.
"The cops were very cordial but told me they had to arrest me because a complaint was filed," he said.
"That was the bogus part. They still had to go through the motions.
"When I got back to the hotel there were paparazzi hanging above the bridge above the hotel trying to get a shot of me getting out of the police van. Even though I wasn't charged, the damage was done."
West added: "Let us not forget that the paps killed Princess Diana. When will there be a law passed... that someone has to ask to take a photograph of you? That would seem like common courtesy.
"What should be illegal is pictures taken with the intent to sell - like drugs with the intent to sell."
"I am not a celebrity," he continued.
"I am a normal person that's just famous. I refuse to sneak in and out of back doors and kitchens of hotels."
West, whose UK tour ends in Manchester on Monday, was also involved in a scuffle with a photographer at a Los Angeles airport in September.
-BBC News
West was detained early on Friday morning following a complaint from freelance photographer Terry Blackburn.
But West, who featured on Estelle's number one single American Boy earlier this year, was released without charge.
"Right now, the paps are above the law and the people who they shoot are below it," he wrote on his official website.
Mr Blackburn told BBC 1Xtra on Friday the incident happened outside the *** *** Palace club in the city centre.
He said: "He had four women around him. As I approached the car which he was getting into, he ran around the back and I ran around the front to try and meet him around the side.
"Just a just as soon as I put my camera up to my face, that was it - he just pushed it in my face."
The incident left him with his nose "cut open", Mr Blackburn claimed.
'The damage was done'
But West said: "When I left the club, I was encountered by a thirsty paparazzi as usual. He felt he had more rights to my space than me, so I put my hand up to prevent him from taking my image.
"I didn't assault him, merely putting my hand up to cover his lens. My security yelled, 'Get the camera off him.'
"I guess in all the commotion the camera scraped his nose."
West was later arrested by officers at his hotel in Gateshead, and taken to a police station.
"The cops were very cordial but told me they had to arrest me because a complaint was filed," he said.
"That was the bogus part. They still had to go through the motions.
"When I got back to the hotel there were paparazzi hanging above the bridge above the hotel trying to get a shot of me getting out of the police van. Even though I wasn't charged, the damage was done."
West added: "Let us not forget that the paps killed Princess Diana. When will there be a law passed... that someone has to ask to take a photograph of you? That would seem like common courtesy.
"What should be illegal is pictures taken with the intent to sell - like drugs with the intent to sell."
"I am not a celebrity," he continued.
"I am a normal person that's just famous. I refuse to sneak in and out of back doors and kitchens of hotels."
West, whose UK tour ends in Manchester on Monday, was also involved in a scuffle with a photographer at a Los Angeles airport in September.
-BBC News