Kanye West is being sued by an autograph hunter who claimed he was punched by the singer.
The “Stronger” rapper is the subject of a lawsuit from Justin Poplawski and his wife Tiffany Marshall. Poplawski is claiming he was “severely injured” by West during an altercation on Jan. 13, 2022, near the Soho Warehouse in Los Angeles.
In documents obtained by The Blast, Poplawski described himself as a “well-respected autograph dealer” who had previously obtained West’s signature “without incident,” but things were different this time because he claimed the Yeezy designer pledged to “make an example” of him as Poplawski referenced his “f—ing divorce” from Kim Kardashian.
“Go the f— [out of] here before I beat the f— out of you. I’m going to make a f—ing example of you,” the lawsuit states West said.
The man — who stressed he was “lawfully standing on public property” — alleged he was then struck by West several times, “severely injuring him.” One of the people with the rapper demanded West to stop.
The “Bound 2” hitmaker is accused of trying to “physically assault, harm, batter, and injure Poplawski, with the intent of committing such assault, harm, battery, and injury, when, without limitation, [West] unlawfully and intentionally struck him. Physically and violently attacked and battered him; and repeatedly struck him while he was defenseless and in fear for his safety causing plaintiff to sustain damages.”
The lawsuit — which was filed by noted attorney Gloria Allred — alleges West “engaged in with a conscious disregard of the rights and safety of [the autograph seeker] and others and was despicable.”
Poplawski is suing for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and loss of consortium. Marshall is also suing for loss of consortium.
It is unclear how much they are seeking in damages.
Video footage of part of the alleged incident — which didn’t include any violence — previously circulated online, but police decided not to charge the rapper with a crime at the time.
“After a thorough and careful review of all the evidence, our office is declining to file based on no reasonable likelihood of conviction,” the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office said.
