Kanye West Put On Probation, Anger Management, Ordered to Pay for Pap Assault
Kanye West has been sentenced to probation, anger management and community service stemming from a misdemeanor battery charge against a photographer that took place last July.
West's lawyer entered a no contest plea on Monday on behalf of the 36-year-old rapper who did not attend the hearing. The rap mogul was given two years of probation, 24 anger management therapy sessions, ordered to pay restitution to the victim and serve 250 hours of community service, CNN reports.
Daniel Ramos, the photographer who West attacked last year, said he wanted the rap mogul to get jail time.
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"I was only doing my job, and he broke the law. I believe that if I did what he did to me, I would have been put behind bars," Ramos said in court, according to CNN. "I ... simply asked him a question, and I didn't use any vulgar language. In fact, I gave him a compliment and told him that he was cool."
Ramos was previously reported to have continually hounded West with questions, with the rapper telling him to stop, according to TMZ. After the paparazzi refused to stop hounding the rapper, West turned and allegedly attacked the man, attempting to grab his camera equipment and wrestling him to the floor. West then left in a waiting vehicle with the incident captured by cameras.
While the photographer decided to file a civil lawsuit against West, the rapper insisted that he was only protecting himself.
"[West believed] his safety was in immediate danger," the rapper's response to the civil suit states, according to TMZ. "[Kanye] responded to this assault by doing only those acts that were reasonably necessary for his self-defense."
The photographer was treated at Marina del Rey Hospital in Los Angeles, Calif. and released on the same day. Deputy District Attorney Amy-Hannah Broersma initially said the level of injuries did not warrant a felony charge to be brought against the rapper.
