City prosecutors are unlikely to file charges against British actor-comedian Russell Brand over a spat with a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport, an official said on Thursday.
Brand met prosecutors, who decided not to pursue charges, city attorney’s spokesman Frank Mateljan said. Brand was arrested at the airport in September while travelling with singer Katy Perry, and had been facing a potential charge of misdemeanour simple battery. The incident was captured on video while Brand and Perry were swarmed by paparazzi as they entered a Delta Air Lines terminal. On the video, Brand is seen swatting at a photographer and hitting his camera. Brand, 35, and Perry, 26, married at a lavish ceremony in India in October.
A security detail travelling with Brand was accused of roughing up four photographers, during an outing at a wild tiger reserve in India the day before the couple’s wedding. Two men from the wedding party later apologised for the incident, which involved taking the photographers’ car keys and stranding them in the tiger reserve. Because of the apology, no formal police investigation was opened. None of the photographers sought medical care. Mateljan said a prosecutor would meet the photographer involved in the LAX incident on Friday. The photographer, whose name was not released, had placed Brand under a citizen’s arrest. Mateljan said that while the office could still file a case against Brand, “it doesn’t seem likely.”
—AP