Kanye West Avoids Charges for Allegedly Punching Fan Who Asked for Autograph

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 3: Kanye West is seen exiting her hotel on September 3, 2016 in New York City. (Credit: Shutterstock)

The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office has declined to file charges against Kanye West for allegedly punching a fan earlier this year in downtown L.A.

“After a thorough and careful review of all the evidence, our office is declining to file based on no reasonable likelihood of conviction,” the city attorney’s office said Tuesday in a statement to the media.

The incident happened around 3 a.m., on Jan. 13, 2022.

The rapper, who now goes by the name Ye, was investigated by Los Angeles police following an altercation outside Soho Warehouse social club near Santa Fe Avenue and Bay Street, according to the LAPD.

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Officers took a misdemeanor battery report listing the rapper as a “named suspect.”

The day of the incident, Fox 11 news reported West allegedly punched a fan in the face after the man asked for an autograph. The fan said when he approached West, the rapper got out of his car, threw a punch, then left the scene.

Days later, West made headlines again when he was banned from the editing room as the production team finalized the Netflix documentary series jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy.

The rapper broke the story himself by posting a statement on Instagram demanding someone let him into the editing room “immediately.”

“I’m going to say this kindly for the last time,” he wrote in the since-deleted post. “I must get final edit and approval on this doc before it releases on Netflix. Open the edit room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image. Thank you in advance.”

The three-part series from directors Coodie & Chike features never-before-seen footage gathered since 2002, including West humming the notes of “Through the Wire” while his jaw was wired shut after a car accident.

The series began streaming on Feb. 16.