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Ray J in Backstage Brawl: Rapper Got "Sucker-Punched by Bad Azz," Manager Says

Backstage area at Club Nokia was already in chaos when Ray J turned up, contrary to report he started it by calling a woman a "fat bitch"

By Natalie Finn Mar 22, 2013 10:42 PMTags
Ray J, Bad AzzMark Davis, Gregg DeGuireWireImage

Backstage at the West Coast Fest concert at L.A.'s Club Nokia was already a circus by the time Ray J showed up.

That's according to Ray J's manager David Weintraub, who exclusively tells E! News that Ray J did not start a shouting—or shoving—match with a woman who was claiming that Brandy's little brother called her a "fat bitch."

"First this woman comes up and starts screaming at Ray J that she got pushed out of the way, which never happened," says Weintraub, who also reps Too Short, the artist Ray J came out to support last night. "That turned into a screaming match backstage in Too Short's dressing room. That just escalated and escalated. He apologized to her, tried to diffuse the situation, but she wouldn't listen and she kept going crazy."

The woman's rant was caught on video, but only after Ray J had supposedly offended.

He "tried to be nice and reason with her," Weintraub said, "but she wouldn't accept the apology." 

It was amid all this chaos, he added, that Ray J then got "sucker-punched by Bad Azz. That is when the fight happened," prompted by animosity stemming from an "old, old fight from 10 years ago."

Sure enough, Bad Azz (born Jamarr Stampscalled into New York's Power 105.1 radio station this morning to explain why he got into it with his onetime friend.

"I took off on Ray J's ass at [Club Nokia] last night 'cause I'd seen him...I'd probably seen him twice since about '05," Bad Azz began before launching into a lengthy recollection that had to do with Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg's tour bus, and Bad Azz (a member of the Snoop-related Dogg Pound) at one point allegedly getting jumped by "six or seven other dudes" from Suge's Death Row crew.

"I said, Unc, next time I see Ray J pass me I'm taking off," Bad Azz said, referring to last night, where his entourage included a lady friend and his uncle. "So as soon as he walked by, I bing-bing-bing-bing a couple to the head. I respect him just a bit 'cause he tried to fight back a little bit."

"But it wasn't nothing," he continued. "His homies helped him. Nobody got super mixed up. I did not knock him out cold...We got a little tough, is all...It was just to send a little message...'Don't ever put your hands on me.'

"All I do is rap music, love my kids and take care of my business. Don't cross my path on no negative stuff and a shout-out to all the other f--kers who were there—excuse my language—but a shout-out to all those other dudes who was there, they will get their heads touched too."

—Reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum