Maybe next time Kanye West should just run away as fast as he can. The rapper was sued today by a paparazzo who maintains that he was attacked by West while trying to take photos of him at Los Angeles International Airport. Plaintiff Daniel Ramos claims that he was just one of a group of shutterbugs gathered on the sidewalk outside LAX on July 19 at 2 p.m., just to see who might emerge from the terminal. When West appeared, Ramos claims in his lawsuit, he asked the new dad, “Can we talk to you?” The suit alleges that West turned, spoke to Ramos and then, “without warning or provocation,” he “suddenly attacked, punching [the plaintiff] and attempting to wrestle the camera from” Ramos’ hands. Ramos states that he managed to hang onto his camera, but fell to his knees on the ground “with enough force that he sustained injuries to his right hip, as well as accompanying pain and emotional distress.” He was taken to the ER at Marina Del Rey Hospital by ambulance to get checked out, according to his attorney, Gloria Allred. According to an evaluation worksheet released last Friday by the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, Ramos was discharged from the hospital with a contusion and muscle strain. While the DA opted not to file felony charges due to the lack of “significant injury,” they referred the case to the L.A. City Attorney’s Office to consider misdemeanor prosecution. “I was just trying to do my job,” Ramos told reporters Wednesday at a press conference, Allred by his side. “I am speaking out today because I don’t want what happened to me to ever happen to anyone else.” He is seeking unspecified damages for allegations of battery, assault, negligence and interference with the exercise of civil rights. “Photographers should not be forced to suffer physical attacks simply because they speak to a celebrity,” added Allred in her own statement. “Celebrities are not above the law and they have no right or special license to hurt others.”
