Over the weekend One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson became the latest celebrity to get caught in a brawl with a photographer. The 25-year-old singer got into the altercation on Friday night at LAX. Louis and his girlfriend, Eleanor Calder ,were returning from a vacation and were spotted at baggage claim by photographer Karl Larssen. Louis felt the cameraman was being too intrusive and requested that he put the camera away. When Larssen continued to take snaps, Louis decided to strike. According to Larssen, “He lunged for the camera then he lifted up my leg and then he hit me and I hit my own head.”
An eyewitness told Radar Online, who posted video of the incident, “The whole thing was chaos, and Louis was aggressive and swearing.” It seems self-defense is sure to be the argument for the provocation, with a source telling Hollywood Life that, “Louis was just trying to protect his girlfriend since the situation was potentially really dangerous and could have gotten out of control. He would have done anything to keep Eleanor safe, and is confident he won’t be found guilty.” The same source went on to assert that “Louis thinks it’s outrageous that photographers feel they can act this way. He said Eleanor was terrified by the ordeal and that it’s unacceptable behavior.”
Right after the attack, Louis got in another altercation at the airport between his girlfriend and another woman, who was attempting to film her following the paparazzo incident. The woman told The Sun that Eleanor “pulled my phone, we started fighting.” Louis allegedly tackled the woman, knocking her to the floor and hitting her in the left eye. The woman told The Sun she was going to press charges against Louis. “The guy socked me. He’s going to go to jail.” 1D fans managed to track the woman down and have threatened her life, causing her to delete her social media accounts.
According to TMZ, Louis was arrested and booked at the LA police station for simple battery. He was released on $20,000 bail on Saturday morning and is scheduled to appear in court on March 29.
Louis’ lawyer, Martin Singer, released a statement claiming, “The paparazzi provoked and caused the altercation that occurred with Louis. It’s not the first time that a paparazzi has created an altercation with a celebrity. While the altercation was going on with the paparazzi, three other individuals were attacking his girlfriend during this incident and he came to her defense.”
Photos: Getty Images, Fame Flynet, WENN.com
All I saw in this video was Louis and his girlfriend being harassed and attacked, not the other way round.
Agree. I only see a couple being harrassed and the guy trying to protect his girlfriend.
Why are the paparazzi allowed inside LAX? I mean, all that security and yet anyone can be taking pictures and being all over someone?
The girl very clearly runs after them in the video and falls. He didn’t put his hands on her but hey, 15 min of fame and now everyones talking about her!
I saw the video too…
Louis tripped and fell on something, which caused the pap to fall too. The 2 girls cornered his girlfriend and were trying to beat the hell out of her and he ran, came between them and blocked (?) it, then pulled a girl off of her which caused her to fall too. He didn’t hit anyone to me.
And what about the girls who were pinning his girlfriend in the corner?
Is that what his PR comment is about?
I was wondering what the piece about people attacking his gf was adressing.
Yes, it seems that these girls were attacking his girlfriend. Like Louse177 wrote there will be probably better videos come out.
There’s video and pictures of that. Legit two girls cornering his girlfriend and attacking her. I’m not sure about the first part (if he was provoked or anything) but those two girls went after the gf and he protected her.
Exactly, I hope Louis and his girlfriend will press charges against them.
I saw that clip on radar I think it was, the end bit shows the two girls being held back by security as they attempt to go after the girlfriend again, it looks very frightening.
More video has to be come out soon surely.
From the TMZ video the 2 girls were attacking his GF, both were clearly laying in the punches. It appears Louis, already agitated, pulled one of the girls off and they fell to the ground. Both girls looked like they had mobile phones in their hands, so it could have been that they were filming his incident with the pap and the GF tried to stop them.
I personally have an issue with people who think its perfectly OK to take photos/videos of complete strangers and then upload them to their social media accounts with the sole purpose of making fun of their poor subjects. I’ve seen it with bullies beating up their victims, disabled people being mocked for their disability, people pretending they are taking selfies and taking a photo of an unfortunate looking person behind them so that they can make fun of them. Its nasty bullying.
I agree with all the comments above. What an appalling situation. I was also shocked by the number of people just standing around gawping at what was happening, especially after he called out for some help.
I’ll never understand why stalking and harassing someone is fine if you have a camera and sell the pictures.
I don’t understand the whole celbrity culture, period.
It’s bizarre, if anybody else acted this way, they’d be arrested but give them a camera and their behavior immediately becomes acceptable. It’s so intrusive, and looks terrifying, and the paps often insult the celebs or rile them up to provoke a reaction so they can get $$ for shots of the celeb losing their temper . I roll my eyes most of the time when celebs complain about how hard their lives are, but this is one area I really feel they’re right about.
There’s also a fan culture adding to the problem here. Fans track the movements of their idols on social media, stalk their locations, know their flight numbers and everything. I don’t know the particulars of this, but there are so many people who believe that Louis is in a long term relationship with Harry Styles and that his girlfriend is just a cover, they hate her because of it. It wouldn’t surprise me if the two girls who attacked his girlfriend were having a go at her over that.
@Ninks I agree with you 100% on all of this. The only thing that I would add (that I don’t think relates to this story) is that celebrities don’t help themselves with paparazzi sometimes because they do call/hire them for their own use, so sometimes you can’t have your cake and eat it too. I’ve seen this video and that is not the case here. The paparazzi guy was in the girlfriends face taking pictures while she was trying to hide. He even yelled for help. His mom just died and he always has to deal those fans harassing his family because they think he’s hiding his relationship with Harry. I feel for him.
A paparazzi you called yourself is basically a photographer doing a very budget photoshoot. You’re paying him. You’re in control. A paparazzi that came uninvited is a stranger, a stalker and a harrasser (did I make up that word?). I’d be alright with the first, especially if it’s for the good of my career. Not the second.
+1 Jessie. Wth???! I don’t understand the weirdness of following people around and filming them like they’re exhibits. Personally on the rare occasion I see someone famous, I try to play it cool lol (I’m not cool)
The video isn’t good so it’s hard to tell what’s going on. It looked like the pap fell over Louis and wasn’t pushed. It looked like the “fan” was hitting the girlfriend. She was pinned in the corner and Louis pushed the “fan” off. There has to be better video that will come out.
He was defending his gf and with the help of nosy people the situation got out of hand. He is going through a lot and he doesn’t deserve this. He has done what 99% of us would have done in the same situation.
He and his girlfriend have been harrassed and attacked and i have no idea how people can twist this around. The video is clear.
I cannot believe he was arrested for that. The two “fans” jumped his girlfriend. All I saw was him pulling the girl away from eleanor, he didn’t even hit her ! They will probably sue him and this is a dam disgrace.
1D stans are the worst – I wouldn’t be surprised that the girls who attacked his GF are stans who saw an opportunity. As for the pap incident, the video doesn’t put him in a good light – paps will create horrible situations just to get a reaction like this. More money for them.
I fell into a 1D rabbit hole once. They were convinced that this poor girl was a Management plant to force Louis into the closet and keep him from his “true love”, Harry Styles. They stalked her on social media and in her actual real life, even posting details of her University test results. I wouldnt be surprised if the fandom is cheering these lunatic on for physically attacking Eleanor. It was always just a matter of time with that fandom.
Oh my god, we probably crossed paths in the darkness of that rabbit hole. That’s one of the craziest fandoms in the history of fandoms. Just completely bonkers. The conspiracy theories! The youtube videos!
I don’t doubt for a second that these “fans” are to blame. Insanity.
They’re not…I’ve stumbled upon a lot of “Larry” (Louis+ Harry) tumblr users completely upset about the way Eleanor is treated. Those two/three girls are awful and should be punished, I hate entitled behavior ugh. And yeah his mom died recently, I wish people would leave him alone.
Where were airport security? Surely you’d call for/wait for security to turn up, instead of getting physical? Frankly, Tomlinson has always seemed like an entitled, arrogant jerk, so I find it very hard to sympathize with him – the paparazzi are dicks, I agree, but I don’t think there is any justification for reacting to a photographer with physical aggression.
Seriously? If your partner was being held up against a wall with two people punching them, you’d just casually chill out and watch while waiting for security to arrive (which could take several minutes, more than enough time for them to be seriously injured) rather than instinctively rushing to save them?
I don’t know a single person who would react that way. You’d have to be made of stone to do so.
Maybe Clare will channel her inner ‘Beyonce in the elevator’.
The videos show he wasn’t in the wrong. They attacked his loved one.
she was cornered because she tried to snatch the phone out of that girl’s hands.
Wow, that got personal fast.
I personally find it hard to believe that security may be ‘several minutes’ away in any part of LAX.
Also, I can’t see myself punching anyone for taking a photo of me or my partner. Mostly because
1, I’d get my ass kicked
2, I don’t have millions to pay expensive lawyers to help me get away with it
3, I suppose I AM made of stone/channeling Beyonce (YAASSSS!!!) – I’ll take that over being belligerent and violent because I didn’t like my photo being taken.
Besides, I understand the two women were allegedly ‘attacking’ his gf because she had effectively stolen their property (for whatever reason). I know I know Tomlinson and his girlfriend can’t do any wrong, but last I checked someone taking a photo of you doesn’t justify snatching their phone, or physically assaulting them.
Look, all I’m saying is, he has a history of obnoxious and entitled behavior so I find it hard to sympathise with him on this – I think his and his girlfriend’s reactions were completely out of proportion. People took photos of them, for heavens sake – that, in my opinion, does NOT call for an aggressive reaction involving punches and phone snatching.
Sorry guys, as far as I’m concerned, violence is an absolute last resort – not a first reaction.
I’m surprised he doesn’t travel with his own security.
i see his stans are out in full swing, defending him lol.
look, i’m sure paparazzi are annoying. but you can’t go around punching/knocking down randos, or trying to snatch phones out of their hands. it baffles me when people think it’s fine to get violent towards paparazzi. he’s incredibly rich; get security. you don’t see the likes of taylor swift or mariah carey getting in these sort situations.
I couldn’t pick any of One Direction out of a lineup, but the Larries are so absolutely infamous it’s no wonder people are going to raise eyebrows over fans stalking him at an airport and violently attacking his girlfriend.
i love it when stans pretend not to be stans. what are the larries?
Stans of Louis + Harry = Larry.
Those girls in the video weren’t fans- they said they didn’t know who he was. They were just trying to film something going on.
Some 1D fans are “stans” but not all deserve to be painted with this crazytown brush that they are manic, obsessive, teenagers. A lot of 1D fans care about Louis (and the rest of the band) and dislike the stalker culture that exists around them.
One of the girls has since said she is a massive fan and that Eleanor was trying to take her phone away from her. Her friend came of her aid ‘accidentally’ pushing Eleanor into the corner. She doesn’t really explain the clear wrestling/punching match that was going on. You can see Eleanor using her feet trying to push the girls away, while holding onto one of the girls wrists. It was a proper girl fight.
I suspect what happened is that his GF saw the girl(s) filming, told her to stop and it escalated into something physical. He did not assault the fan, he pulled her off and they all fell to the floor.
The pap is a different story – he was pushing him and they fell over each other.
UPDATE: A witness has come forward to the press and said that 3 girls were harassing his GF, she asked them to stop filming her, one allegedly yelled ‘no bitch’, GF tried to get away and tripped over losing her balance, the 3 girls pushed her over and starting punching her in the face and stomach. The witness also went onto say that Louis pulled one girl down and away from Eleanor and thats why the all ended up on the floor.
There is footage of the the girl who was id’d on SM who is seen grinning while saying that she was going to get him charged. She’s in it for her 15mins.
It was only a matter of time before something like this happened with the stans. Am not a 1D fan but it is a gossip distraction from the political car crash.
Oh ok – I hadn’t heard that she was, in fact, a fan. I agree with you on what you suspect happened in the incident!
I would love to know more about Louis’ obnoxious and entitled behavior.