Kanye West faced a different sort of Love Lockdown, yesterday morning. He and his bodyguard were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after a scuffle with paparazzi.
West was waiting for a flight to Honolulu when he was accosted by a photographer and a video cameraman, according to an official LAX statement. "An altercation ensued," according to MTV, and both cameras – including a $10,000 video camera - were damaged. "Altercation" seems to be a euphemism for yelling, shoving, gravity, and the effects of an airport floor upon digital camera casings.
LAX police arrived and arrested West along with his road manager and bodyguard Don Crowley. They were charged with felony vandalism.
Witnesses claimed that West confronted the first snap-happy photographer, grabbed his camera and hurled it to the ground. When another nearby paparazzo began videotaping the incident – sorry, "altercation" - Crowley went after him, throwing that camera to the floor.
Police arrived at the scene and asked the video cameraman if he had footage of the scuffle. He replied, nursing his damaged camera, that he did – and West again allegedly leapt toward him, yelling "Gimme that fucking tape!" according to TMZ. Police restrained the over-heated hit-maker and took him into custody.
There's a cruel irony to West's predicament. Currently finishing his fourth album in four years, the rapper has just released the first material from the recording sessions – a song called Love Lockdown. Which is probably what police officers are asking him right now.
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