One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson Wrongly Arrested At LAX Airport As ‘Vid Clearly Shows,’ Says Friends
One Direction's Louis Tomlinson was wrongly arrested Friday night after his arrival at the LAX airport with girlfriend Eleanor Calder, said the star's friends. The friends claimed the British pop star merely tried to protect his girl from strangers who disregarded their "personal space." They grounded their claims based on a 55-second video that captured the airport brawl and eventually led to Tomlinson's arrest for simple battery.
"The Late Late Show" producer Ben Winston and close friend of Louis Tomlinson took to Twitter to speak out his opinion after the release of the LAX airport brawl footage by Radar Online. Winston said the arrest on the 25-year-old One Direction member "shocked" him as the "vid clearly shows he pulls 2 girls off his gf and a pap trips" and that the star "even asks staff for help." "Wrongful arrest," tweeted the film producer, in conclusion, Saturday. Another celebrity friend and American electro house musician Steve Aoki also jumped into Tomlinson's defense as he expressed his "wish" that the "paparazzi respected personal space." "U can still do your job without having to put your camera literally in someone's face," tweeted the co-singer for Tomlinson's solo debut "Just Hold On."
Louis Tomlinson ended up in jail at the LAPD station for misdemeanor battery charges. He was released on $20,000 bail after nearly an hour behind bars and received a court date set March 29. Photographer Karl Larssen told the police that the One Direction member "lunged" for his camera and then tripped him so that he fell flat on the floor of the baggage reclaim section at LAX airport and claimed to have suffered an injury. A female fan who incurred a small cut above her left eye also claimed she was "socked" and thrown to the floor. Tomlinson's lawyer Martin Singer, however, stated the scuffle was "provoked" by the paparazzi. "It's not the first time that a paparazzi has created an altercation with a celebrity," Singer told PEOPLE in a statement. "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."