Kanye West Defends Punching Man Who Wanted Autograph

Kanye West has had one wild week, which included video coming out of him allegedly punching an autograph seeker. Now, he’s speaking out.

In a recent interview with Hollywood Unlocked, which partially ran on Friday (Jan. 14), Ye gave his side of the story. “It’s 3 a.m. in front of the warehouse,” Kanye explained about his interaction with the overzealous fan following a recording session. “I’m saying, ‘You don’t know what I’m dealing with right now.’ This dude, he just had this attitude like, ‘What you gon’ do?’

“Imma just tell you, that blue COVID mask ain’t stop that knockout,” Ye said.

On Thursday (Jan. 13), video surfaced of an irate Kanye yelling at a woman in the street while an injured man lay nearby. The incident allegedly started when the fan saw Kanye sitting in his car and approached the rap star for an autograph. However, things went left when Kanye allegedly jumped out of his car and began screaming at the man before supposedly punching him to the ground. Kanye is seen yelling at a woman, who is reportedly his cousin, in the aftermath of the altercation.

“Get away from me! Ain’t no hands!” he shouted. “No, no! You were supposed to talk to her,” Kanye added in reference to getting in contact with Kim to talk about a situation with their children where the rapper claims security stopped him from seeing the kids. Police were called to the scene of the fan altercation and a report was filed. There is a chance Kanye could face a misdemeanor battery charge due to the incident.

The situation happened a day before West released his new single, “Eazy” featuring The Game. On the track, Kanye addresses his estranged wife’s new beau, Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson. “God saved me from that crash/Just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass (Who?),” the G.O.O.D. Music head rhymes.

This comes on the heels of Kanye reportedly planning to go to Russia and make it his second home.

Check out the interview clip with Kanye defending his actions below.