LOS ANGELES (KNX) - A photographer has filed a lawsuit against Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after the rapper grabbed her phone and threw it in the street in January.
Nichol Lechmanik, who’s been a celebrity photographer for 10 years, said she was in her car with a colleague, filming an altercation between Ye and another photographer outside the Sports Academy in Newbury Park. Ye angrily approached the car, berating Lechmanik to stop filming.
In video captured during the encounter, Ye tells Lechmanik, “If I say stop, stop with your cameras.” He then reaches into the car to grab Lechmaink’s phone and throws it down the street.
“He reached into my car as though he was going to hit me,” Lechmaink said.
Lechmanik's attorney, Gloria Allred, says the suit seeks damages against Ye for assault, battery, and violation of her civil rights.
“He can express his displeasure using words, but he does not have a right to grab someone else’s property,” Allred said.
Allred also said her client wants to stop Ye from “interfering with the rights of other photographers to engage in their lawful occupation.”
Allred previously represented another photographer in a suit against Ye, stemming from an altercation outside LAX in 2013. Ye pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges for the incident, and the photographer’s suit was settled out of court.
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