What happened with Talib Kweli? Rapper's heated brawl with security at UK show explained

Black Star Performs At O2 Academy Brixton - Source: Getty
Talib Kweli gets into a brawl with security at his UK show (image via Getty)

American rapper Talib Kweli, during a November 16 performance at his Black Star Concert, cursed at security guards. According to footage obtained by TMZ, Kweli can be seen screaming at a security guard backstage for allegedly walking onstage during the show, which was one minute past the 11 p.m. curfew.

"Who the fu*k they think they are."

The guard stood in front of him and urged the rapper to be calm. However, he backed away when Kweli showed no signs of calming down,

"Exactly walk away. You're not a man at all."

In the video, Talib Kweli can be seen cheered on during his verbal spat. In a statement to TMZ, the rapper explained the situation, saying,

"When I came off stage, I asked to speak to the man, who came on the stage. I was instead greeted by aggressive security guards who began to disrespect me immediately, so I argued with them and held them accountable for how they treated us as guests who helped the venue make money."

He continued,

"O2 Manchester called security on their main act for the night to enforce us leaving the stage at 11 p.m. even though we were already in the process of leaving the stage at that exact time."

Why did Talib Kweli's show run later than the promised time?

In a statement to TMZ, Talib Kweli explained the reason behind his verbal spat with the security guard during his performance at O2 Manchester. He went on to explain that the reason behind his performance taking a minute longer than the 11 p.m. curfew was that O2 Manchester decided to push the time back without informing the rapper.

"What you are never supposed to do is walk on stage during the show. You are also never supposed to call security on the artist. The security is supposed to be protecting the artist, not treating the artist like some unwanted criminal."

He went on to demand an answer from the venue on the incident and said,

"o2 Manchester owes Black Star, Black Star management and Black Star fans an apology for the way they treated us."

Talib Kweli also argued that fan accounts and other social media platforms would "back" him up. He added that the proper protocol if the artist has gone beyond his curfew is to get artist managers to "relay the message" and not walk on stage amidst the show.

The venue is yet to acknowledge the incident and respond to the rapper's comments.

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Edited by Yesha Srivastava