By Tai Saint Louis
Rap star Kanye West addressed his most recent encounter with photographers via his blog yesterday (November 15).
In a lengthy entry, West, who was momentarily detained in London Friday morning (November 14), explained his side of the confrontation outside a nightclub in Newcastle in the United Kingdom.
“I am protecting my personal space since there are no laws to protect that for me,” West wrote. “I’m a normal person that’s just famous. I refuse to sneak in and out of back doors and kitchens of hotels, etc.”
According to the multi-platinum rapper/producer, the incident occurred when an aggressive photographer attempted to capture his exit from the nightclub on film without the Hip-Hop superstar’s permission.
As his security guard yelled “get the camera off him,” a statement which was originally attributed to West in the photographer’s complaint, the rapper himself raised his hand to block the lens’ view.
West explained that it was never his intent to assault the photographer.
Three hours after the original incident, five members of the Northumbria Police Department appeared at the rapper’s hotel room, explaining that since a complaint had been filed, he had to be taken into custody.
Kanye West was later released without charge.
In his statement, West raised a strong case for regulation against the current practices of celebrity photographers.
“Paparazzi give real photographers a bad name,” West said. “A picture is worth a thousand words, theirs are worth a thousand dollars. Right now the paps are above the law and the people they shoot are below it. What should be illegal is pictures taken with the intent to sell, like drugs with the intent to sell or crossing customs with enough merchandise to have the intent to sell. The exploitation of my image is the problem. It produces a ‘by any means necessary’ behavior that cause the paps to drive recklessly on freeways, jump over fences and invade privacy all in an effort to get that money shot. You shouldn’t be able to sell a picture of me without my permission…let us not forget the paps killed Princess Diana.”
West was involved in a similar altercation in late September in which he responded much more violently to the papparazo involved.
The rapper initially faced felony charges for destroying the photographer, was later cleared of those charges as well.