Kanye West has insisted he did not punch a fan during an altercation last week.
It was reported last week that the Stronger rapper was being investigated by Los Angeles police for allegedly punching a fan outside of the private members club Soho Warehouse in Los Angeles.
During an interview with Hollywood Unlocked, the 44-year-old told host Jason Lee that the details surrounding the incident "can't be captured in a headline."
"So as far as the paparazzi goes, right, like, it wasn't a fan," the Donda hitmaker began. "It was 3 a.m. in front of the warehouse. I'm saying, 'You don't know what I'm dealing with right now.' I just finished these two songs, I came from the studio. I created the record, this impromptu shoot, and my cousins went and did really deliver the mission. And this dude just, he just had this real attitude, like, 'Whatchu gonna do? And see that?' Imma just tell you, that blue Covid mask ain't stop that knockout, you know what I'm saying."
Lee asked the rapper, who recently changed his name to Ye, if the "taunting, the disrespect, the disregard for your privacy" instigated the incident.
"Look, man, I love the paparazzi, I love the press, I love the media, everything," the Grammy winner explained. "But then they send those two, probably like some agents or something to really gaslight the situation. This can't be captured in a headline. This is the reason why I wanted to sit down and talk to you directly and talk to the world about exactly what happened."
West described the person who approached him as a man "taking autographs to make money on them" rather than a genuine fan.
"This is the same as the paparazzi, this is not a fan. This is someone who is using your image, who probably never listened to your songs, are ones that are like, 'This is my song, for real?'" he said.
