Kanye West Lashed Out At Paparazzo After Learning His Grandfather Was Dying

There's a reason why Kanye West so quickly lost his cool with a paparazzo outside a Los Angeles airport in July. The rapper had just learned his grandfather was dying.

West allegedly tried to grab photographer Daniel Ramos' camera and wrestle him to the ground during the altercation. The rapper is currently facing battery and attempted grand theft charges and faces up to a year behind bars if convicted.


West claims he acted in self-defense after fearing his safety was at risk, according to court papers. He has since opened up about what prompted him to lose control, insisting Ramos purposefully goaded him.

Speaking to a videographer at a gas station in Calabasas, California on Friday, he explained, "The guy (Ramos) set me up at the airport the other day. You know he was f**king laughing and s**t... That's the day that I found out my grandfather was not gonna (sic) make it. He passed two weeks later. But when I'm coming out the airport, because it's Kanye or whatever, (paparazzi think), 'We're gonna f**k with him, we're gonna antagonise him'.

"I tried to stop his camera and stuff, he fell down, faked it, then people are talking about, 'Oh, yo, why'd you hit that guy?' I obviously didn't hit the guy, but I'm going through s**t..."
He added, "My family is growing up. If you had a daughter, and you guys say crazy s**t to me all the time, and you say it to my family... I couldn't imagine my daughter being four years old and you guys screaming at her. I think somebody screamed at Tom Cruise's daughter or something like that...

(Over the summer a photographer called Cruise and Katie Holmes' daughter Suri a "b**ch dog, a little brat kid" during an outing in New York.)

West continued, "We're in this together; you guys help me influence, you help with the family, you help Kim's power and everything, so I'm not trying to f**king be at you guys in any type of negative way and I don't want you guys to be negative at me and I would prefer if we just had a decent relationship, you know?"