Kanye West has pleaded no contest to misdemeanour battery against a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport, maintaining his innocence. He was sentenced to two years of probation, 24 anger management therapy sessions and 250 hours of community service.
The rapper made the special plea through his attorney and did not attend the hearing. According to The Hollywood Reporter, West did not reach a civil settlement with the paparazzo and his plea cannot be used against him in a civil lawsuit.
Photographer Daniel Ramos alleges West punched him in an unprovoked attack at LAX in July last year and wrestled his camera to the ground during the altercation. Ramos told the judge he wanted West thrown in jail. “I was only doing my job, and he broke the law,” Ramos said. “I believe that if I did what he did to me, I would have been put behind bars.”
“I simply asked him a question, and I didn’t use any vulgar language,” Ramos told the judge Monday. “In fact, I gave him a compliment and told him that he was cool.” The photographer had also filed a civil suit against West.
Prosecutors decided not to file felony charges against West, but instead pursued misdemeanour charges, each count carrying a penalty of up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine. The incident was caught on camera, leaving West with a difficult trial facing possible jail time if he did not accept the prosecutor’s plea deal which included probation.
West was involved with another altercation with photographers at LAX in 2008, but charges against him were dismissed once he completed an anger management course and payed the photographers for breaking their equipment. He also reached a civil settlement earlier this year with a man he was accused of assaulting in a Beverly Hills medical office.
