BAUER-GRIFFIN.COMIt's so Nicole Kidman all over again. Remember when her bodyguard clobbered the paparazzo who was trailing her to a bloody pulp? Strangely went away. The bod-guard was never made to publicly account for attacking the dude who was following his client (a public figure) with a camera. Devil-moolah obviously must have exchanged hands.
Kidman, to this day, is silent on the matter—all the while protesting the world's violence via UNICEF. Ironic, much?
And, here, notoriously again, we have Kanye West getting off with a hand-slap after he and his protector destroyed pricey camera equipment belonging to the paparazzi, all in plain sight of shocked LAX travelers. Why? Because the $400 line of distinction between what qualifies for a misdemeanor and a felony hit right at the value of the equipment that West made the spoiled, Napoleonic decision to ruin.
But the cost of what the bodyguard pulverized was far higher, even though the dude was clearly doing so while in the employ of—and expressly to display the outrage of—his boss, Kanye.
Message is loud and clear 'round T-town: If you're celebrated, you're golden, you're cool, you're above the law. Punishment, accordingly, is for the little people, clearly.