8/9/2024
American rapper Travis Scott was arrested in Paris early Friday morning after getting into a fight with his bodyguard, authorities in the French capital said.
Police were called to the George V luxury hotel at 5 a.m. (11 p.m. ET on Thursday) to break up the fight, they said. Scott was subsequently arrested for “violence against another person,” according to a police spokesman.
Scott, who was in Paris for the Olympic Games, on Thursday attended the men’s basketball semi-final that saw the United States beat Serbia.
He was arrested for “violence against a security guard,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said later on Friday.
The security guard had tried to break up a fight between the rapper and his bodyguard, according to a spokesman with the prosecutor, who added that an investigation had been opened.
“We are in direct communication with the local Parisian authorities to swiftly resolve this matter and will provide updates when appropriate,” a representative for Scott told CNN in a statement.
Scott, one of the preeminent rappers of his generation and whose legal name is Jacques Bermon Webster, had wrapped up the European leg of his Circus Maximus tour only days earlier in Lisbon, Portugal.
The tour has seen him play at arenas across North America and Europe, including a recent date at Tottenham Hotspur’s 62,000-seater soccer stadium in London.
The rapper has been nominated for 10 Grammy Awards, including a nod for Best Rap Album for his 2023 release “Utopia.”
But he has also faced run-ins with authorities. Scott was arrested and booked into Miami-Dade County Jail in June on charges of trespass and disorderly intoxication.
He is perhaps best known for his raucous live performances that have occasionally spun out of control, including a fatal Astroworld Festival show in 2021 that left 10 people dead.
Scott was cleared of criminal charges by the Houston District Attorney’s office over that tragedy last year, District Attorney Kim Ogg said during a press conference at the time. But he has faced a series of civil lawsuits brought forth by many of the victims’ families.