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Artist News Legal
Louis Tomlinson arrested after airport altercation with pap and fans
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 6 March 2017
One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson was released on $20,000 bail this weekend after being arrested following an altercation with a photographer and two fans at LAX airport.
According to the Mirror, Tomlinson has told friends he was simply trying to protect his girlfriend during the incident. The Friday night fracas seemingly began with a light tussle between the singer and the paparazzo, which saw Tomlinson trip and accidentally drag the snapper to the floor with him. As this was occurring, his girlfriend Eleanor Calder got into a physical altercation with two fans who were also taking photos. Tomlinson intervened there too, before airport security arrived and diffused the situation.
Tomlinson was then arrested, amid reports that both the photographer and one of the fans required medical treatment after the incident, for concussion and an eye injury respectively. The singer was bailed and is now due to appear in court on 29 Mar.
However, his legal rep, Martin Singer, insisted his client was not to blame. He told reporters: “The paparazzi provoked and caused the altercation that occurred with Louis. It’s not the first time that a paparazzo has created an altercation with a celebrity. While the altercation was going on … the other individuals were attacking his girlfriend during this incident and he came to her defence”.
Meanwhile one source told the Mirror that a video of the LAX run-in backs up the claim that the singer was merely attempting to protect his girlfriend. They said: “The video from the incident shows what really happened and tells the story. Those girls were attacking Eleanor, and Louis rushed in and pushed them away. He is adamant everything he did was to protect his girlfriend and that is what he has been telling his friends”.
