Kanye West Addresses Claim That He Knocked Out A Fan In L.A.

Kanye West was accused of punching an autograph seeker in Los Angeles last week, and he's now broken his silence.

The man who was on the receiving end of the punch is named Justin Poplawski, a 40-year-old who hunts down celebrity signatures. LAPD is investigating the incident and Ye may be charged with battery.

“It was 3 a.m. in front of [Soho] Warehouse,” Ye told Hollywood Unlocked's Jason Lee about the autograph seeker. “I’m saying, ‘You don’t know what I’m dealing with right now.’ I just finished these two songs, I came from the studio … And this dude, he just had this real attitude, like, ‘Whatchu gonna do?' ... I’ma just tell you, that blue COVID mask ain’t stop that knockout.”

But Ye never specified whether he hit Poplawski or if it was done by someone in his crew, which Lee confirmed with Entertainment Tonight.