from today's issue of the star tribune:

Prince, bodyguard sued over airport incident
April 8, 2004PEOP0408

The Purple One could be headed from the Hall of Fame to the halls of the Hennepin County Government Center.

A college student sued Prince and his bodyguard Wednesday over an alleged incident at the airport. Anthony Fitzgerald of Edina is claiming he was assaulted when he took a photo of Prince as the rock star was getting off a flight Dec. 29 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The suit says Prince's bodyguard, identified only as "Trevor," lunged at Fitzgerald "in an aggressive, threatening manner," then grabbed his digital camera, leaving him "stunned and humiliated."

It alleges assault and battery, loss of the camera and intentional infliction of emotional distress that left Fitzgerald anxious and unable to sleep.

Edina attorney Frank Berman said the suit, dated Jan. 14, was filed Wednesday because Prince's "people" wouldn't accept a copy of it, so Fitzgerald is asking the court for instructions on how to serve him with it.

Ronnie Lippin, a Prince spokeswoman, said she wasn't familiar with the suit.

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....good gravy, man. sing with me, if ya know it:

asshole took my picture, kicked 'im in the neck
draaaaawerz burn-iiiiin
sue me for a million dollas, i said what the heck
draaaaawerz burn-iiiiin....

He guy shouldn't sue Prince and his bodyguards because you should know not to take a photo of Prince if he doesn't say OK! The guy is such a dumb ass!

on the one hand, I hope the kid is given money to replace his camera, cos P's folks stealing it is a load o' crap

on the other hand, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS? Come on, I hope he doesn't get nutthin for that...

endorphin74 said:

they should take this shit on texas justice or the people's court...i remember fancy ray was on texas justice once.

This dumb kid must really need the money if he's suing Prince for this. To me, this kid has no grounds for suing OR winning the case, since Trevor was only doing his job, and that is, defending his boss, Prince. As Goldniga stated, people (especially people in Minnesota!) know that Prince does not like his picture taken, and people have got to respect that. I hope the kid loses.

Some people are so stupid edit
[This message was edited Thu Apr 8 6:40:55 2004 by psychodelicide]

Goldniga said:

Why? Just because he's Prince? It doesn't matter who you are (or who you think you are), there's no law preventing someone else taking a picture of you.

So Prince had his bodyguard attack the guy for taking a picture and the guy sues? Good. I would too.

The guy should have claimed that he was a plane spotter and then he'd have a better chance of winning.

Just say that he was innocently being a geek and taking a picture of a plane which had one big guy and one little skinny guy (neither of which he recognised) coming out of it, when all of a sudden the little one squeaked and pointed, and the big one ran over and smacked him one for no reason.

psychodelicide said:

man...

the absolute most this cat can get outta this is probably money for the camera. that other "emotional distress" crap...holy flaming hohners, he shouldn't even go there. you couldn't sleep cuz one of p's goons swiped your camera...boo-fuggin-hoo, sucka.

Reminds me of the time I read where a Cleveland television (ABC affiliate) cameraman sued Prince and Big Chick for a 1985 incident at a Cleveland nightclub. I have a Cleveland Plain Dealer article from 1985-1987 saying that Prince was standing on trail in videotape for an alleged asllegation of Big Chick grabbing at the TV camera outside a side entrance to the Agora Theatre Ballroom.

Shelia E was headlining at The Agora back in 1985 and Prince appeared for a few numbers. The local TV station, which is less than 20 blocks from the venue, heard about Prince's appearance and rushed to send a cameraman to catch some footage.

Big Chick grabbed the camera and broke it, I think. Have to search for the news article in my Prince news clippings archive (attic) and post it online somewhere so you cna all look.

Man, if he had any ballz, he would not let his cam get taken. After Prince's last concert in Excell "2002" we went to the afterparty at Paisley. The sister of my best friend was there with us, she lives in CHicago and is a big fan. While we were leaving, she was upset that she didn't have a momento of her being at Paisley so she could show all her friends back in Chi. To make a long story short. I pulled up in the parking lot and she snapped a couple of pictures of the building. Needless to say one of his henchmen came out and demanded the camera. I refused and he said we couldn't leave. I simply told him if we can't leave, I'm going to fuck him up on the spot where he stood. Since I was in my car and he was on foot. I simply drove off.

I just can't see Prince and his bodyguards in court...they'd prolly go break the court artist's colored pencils or somethin'

Anxiety said:

That's a great photo. The guy in the background has a perfect "just pooped in my undies" look.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Sid Viscious (sp?) was on Judge Judy once...it was disturbing to say the least.

But seriously, I've been losing sleep because I'm so excited about the tour...I think I should sue too

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Co-sign. I agree!

psychodelicide said:

You obviously have a case of hero worship if you feel that Prince is entitled to steal cameras because someone took his picture. Was trevor defending him against the flash or the powerful shutter speed of the camera?

Anxiety said:

Is that Trevor?

a2grafix said:

I remember that lawsuit quite well, in fact, Prince did not even come to Cleveland for a looong time after that incident took place. Not sure if it was because he was pissed about the incident (which I can't really blame him for), or if it was part of the court ruling.

HotThang said:

HotThang said:

Especially when you consider that Sid Vicious has been dead for about 25 years!

Yer thinkin' Johnny Rotten, luv...trust me...and I saw that episode, it was a complete freakshow.

HotThang said:

sid vicious is dead...you must mean johnny rotten, cuz i remember seein that episode with him on it, too.

i think we should all file a class-action lawsuit against p, man. he's made me lose sleep too...who wanna join in?

This culture is lawsuit happy. "emotional distress", what a crock! Some midget's bodyguard took your camera and yelled at you, so you now can't sleep? Grow a pair, dude!

I'm not saying it was okay for P's bodyguard to take his camera, that's just BS He should be compensated for that, but to say that the incident has caused you some sort of emotional damage is just pathetic.

lovemachine said:

Hero worship has NOTHING to do with this, it's all about respecting a person's privacy, nothing more, nothing less. Would you like it if some wacko came up to you and took your picture without your permission??? I think not!
[This message was edited Thu Apr 8 6:55:56 2004 by psychodelicide]

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Yeah Yeah...same difference

And about that class-action lawsuit...sure I'll join in...I've got some serious student loans to pay off
[This message was edited Thu Apr 8 6:54:51 2004 by HotThang]

billysparxxx said:

If only U wudda gotten a snap of THAT!!

Man, I was really inspired by the theater simulcast on March 29, so I went home and played my guitar until 4:00 a.m. I just couldn't get to sleep, I was just buzzin'. I think I should sue too.

psychodelicide said:

So what if some wacko did come up to you and started taking photos of you? You may not like it, but would you set your Trevor on him? Or, more likely, would you just politely tell him to fuck off?

HotThang said:

Kinda like when people say, yeah yeah....Prince, Michael Jackson...same difference...

Don't make me slap a class action suit on YOU.

AsylumUtopia said:

I would never beat up on the guy but I would politely tell him to back off or I would get the police on his ass.

psychodelicide said:

Exactly, as would most of us. Maybe Prince should have taken a softer approach too. Setting a thug on someone isn't the cleverest solution.