Matisyahu Kicks Photographer At Concert, Apologizes

First Matisyahu lost his beard; now, he's lost his cool. The devoutly religious reggae rapper, who shocked the Jewish world when he shed his trademark hirsute profile earlier this month, allegedly kicked the face of a photographer in the audience for using her camera at a Hanukkah show in Brooklyn on Wednesday.

The incident became public knowledge when the victim, Rebecca Smeyne, a contributor to Paper, Spin, and MTV, according to her bio, posted about the incident on her Twitter page.

"I was just attacked by mAtisyahu calling cops pressing charges. Wtf! He kicked me in face and broke my camera!!!!!"

She then accused 32-year-old artist of being a misogynist before writing:

"I'm ok; after cops showed, matisyahu's manager, who witnessed the incident, gave me a fat stack of cash to cover damages. Happy hanukkah!"

For the record, Matisyahu responded to Smeyne on Twitter, apologizing before becoming slightly defensive. He wrote: "sorry about last night.I totally snapped.I wouldn't call it a kick, more like stepping into the crowd... being that youv'e shot so many hsows you should know how huge your flash in your face is."

Comments

[recasper]

03:15 PM on 01/03/2012

Robson from OZ!

[SexyYenta]

12:16 AM on 01/03/2012

Matisyahu is turning into Axl Rose.

[jontrentj]

03:51 PM on 01/01/2012

who is this jamoke?

[stjoshy]

05:53 PM on 12/29/2011

yeah the guy sings about one day there will be peace is going around kicking people in the face? a momentary lapse in judgement but still i lose respect for him doing that. and watsup with that first pic where heez shaved.. did someone kick him in the eyes?

[levelshot]

02:41 PM on 12/29/2011

A real concert photographer doesn't use a flash.

[Goldie Treasure]

10:54 AM on 12/25/2011

I really like Matisyahu, but he has for sure changed since he got more famous, his head got a little big. That "photographer" should have known not to be taking pictures with a huge flash like an idiot.

[JoePenn]

08:21 AM on 12/24/2011

Yeah, he's 'truly devoutly religious' alright.

[Anna JD]

04:10 AM on 12/24/2011

What a really rude dude. One must admit though, he's one really good looking Chassidim, especially without the shaggy beard. He's a great performer and obviously, he does not discrimminate. I'm sure he would have stepped into the audience had the female photographer been male. His manager gets a heap of credit although, he had to pay up a heap of cash. It was wise of him to have it handy and, I suppose we can all take a lesson from this. Happy Chanukah to all! Happy Holidays and, Matisyahu, what's next for you? Why not go into films. You'd be a great actor!

[xxx xxxx]

02:48 AM on 12/24/2011

As soon as I'm out of the Army I will let my beard grow like that !.

[Badger525]

02:40 AM on 12/24/2011

....she wasn't in the kitchen???

[Javier Soler]

06:21 PM on 12/24/2011

Seriously man, those jokes' 15 minutes are up, and this one is a stretch anyways.

[longtimegone]

02:01 AM on 12/24/2011

"You can fool some people sometime / but you can't fool all the people all the time"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k34boxNrqL8

the roots:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDUlbaLxgAg&feature=related

the truth requires no self-promotion.

[Crisdean Wulver]

01:08 AM on 12/24/2011

Let me get this straight. Matisyahu said to the photographer, "I'm sorry I kicked you in the face?" I wouldn't think an apology would be good enough.

What a lot of people don't seem to realize is that kicking someone in the head is sometimes tried as assault with a deadly weapon. It can easily result in permanent brain damage.

[tuff guy]

11:51 PM on 12/23/2011

hypocrite. maybe he should have done a chant or something before he lost his cool.

[Caroleeena]

11:02 PM on 12/23/2011

I am sick of the non-apology apology.

[HellBank]

07:29 AM on 12/24/2011

I'm guessing you're married.

[Caroleeena]

07:33 AM on 12/24/2011

No. I just follow lots of politics so I get to hear a lot of them. They happen everywhere though I guess. It seems taking personal responsibility is not really "a thing" anymore. That whole "repent and atone" thing (admit what you did wrong and do something to make it right) seems to be a thing of the past.

[Jeff Modzelewski]

09:40 PM on 12/23/2011

I've had photo passes at dozens of concerts at clubs and theaters similar to the size that Matisyahu plays. Rule #1 is always "NO FLASH." Any professional photographer would know that, since even an amateur like me has had that pounded into my brain dozens of times. If you're using a professional camera with a powerful flash, that could be very distracting for a performer, and it's very unprofessional for the photographer to do that. Matisyahu shouldn't have kicked her or damaged her equipment, but she should've been kicked out of the club for using a professional flash and she should lose her photo credentials for any future shows.

[Caroleeena]

11:01 PM on 12/23/2011

That is no excuse for kicking her in the face.