A spokesperson for the New York nightclub W.i.P. told on Friday (June 15) that club management had turned over to police investigators video footage of the melee? between the entourages of Chris Brown and Drake.
An NYPD spokesperson confirmed that the videotape had been turned over and that police were reviewing it as part of their investigation.
At press time the police would give any further details about the findings, but TMZ reported earlier in the day that Brown had given a statement to police and that his lawyer had handed over unspecified "physical evidence" that allegedly implicates Drake in the fight. Drake's reps had also reportedly spoken to investigators, but the NYPD spokesperson declined to specify who had come forward so far, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation. The W.i.P spokesperson also cautioned that a widely-circulated videotape labeled as footage of the fight is actually an unrelated clip shot in a different club in New Jersey.
And while some sources have claimed that the fight was not over the men's mutual history with Rihanna, an unnamed source told Us Magazine that the "We Found Love" singer "loves" the suggestion that she was the cause. "Men fighting over her? Are you kidding? Of course. [She] loves the drama," the source said.
Radar Online reported on Friday (June 15) that Rihanna consoled Brown on Thursday night at Jay-Z's 40/40 club in New York all night and, "it was clear that she loved the attention he was giving her ... those two have a thing for each other that will never die, no matter what, and they're on their way to really being back together. Chris just adores her. And she tended to him, making sure the gash on his chin from the fight was okay."
The site also reported that Brown needed eight stitches to close up the wound on his chin and had to get a tetanus shot as well. His bodyguard, Big Pat, reportedly needed 20 stitches to close up the wound on his head and also received a tetanus shot, while Brown's girlfriend, Karreuche Tran, sustained minor cuts and had some glass fragments removed from her skin.
TMZ noted added that NBA player Tony Parker suffered a serious eye injury during the bottle blitz. "I was there with a bunch of friends when the fight broke out," he said. "They started to throw bottles about. I got it all .. the cornea has been touched. I can't do anything for seven days. But I was lucky. The injury won't prevent me from competing in the Olympics in any way." The star San Antonio Spurs point guard will represent his native France in the summer games.
A person who was reportedly at the club on the night of the melee said it was sparked when a member of Drake's entourage threw a bottle at Brown's crew, but that "Chris and Drake never got in each other's faces ... it was entourage versus entourage, never Drake versus Chris."
Nobody seems to want to go on the record, but several anonymous witnesses also reportedly told TMZ that a member of Brown's 16-member crew, "was throwing gang signs and screaming at Drake's table." Witnesses pegged that dreadlocked man as the "primary instigator" of the brawl, claiming he verbally taunted Drake's table and yelled out, "somebody's gonna die." He also later allegedly threatened rapper Meek Mill, saying, "F--- you, we're gonna kill you n---a." As this was going on, Brown is reported to have stood up and embraced the dreadlocked friend. If the purported gang signs were indeed thrown and are on the videotape being reviewed by police, TMZ reported that it could spell trouble for Brown, whose five years of probation from his felony assault conviction? on Rihanna stipulates that he cannot associate with gang members.
In another bit of potential fall-out from the scuffle, TMZ noted that the New York City Council is holding an emergency meeting with nightclub owners to discuss whether bottle service policies should be changed in the wake of the fight.
"I am deeply concerned by reports of the bottle throwing melee that injured more than five people in SoHo this week," said City Council speaker Christine Quinn in a statement. "That is why I have immediately convened an emergency meeting next week between my office, the NYPD, and the nightlife industry ... The purpose of this meeting is to send a clear message to all nightclub patrons that bottles cannot be used as weapons and to determine if the guidelines surrounding bottle service need to be updated or reworked."
A number of photos have been posted online showing the purported aftermath of the bottle blitz, depicting the floor of the club awash in broken glass.