"Bottom line, take photos at red carpets. Take pics of hungry Hollywood starlets and douche bags that are out at clubs and bars that like it ... Bottom line: I don't. I'm not a socialite out begging for that kind of attention. I'm a family man out wit my kids. Don't get the 2 twisted."
-Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, laying down the law on his Twitter after an altercation with a group of paparazzi photographers and videographers on Sunday (February 21). Barker was with his daughter and some friends at a restaurant in Calabasas, California when a pair of shooters started snapping photos and video of him. According to the photographers, Barker and his pals spat at them, threatened them and tried to take and abuse some of their equipment.
The drummer immediately took to Twitter to rant about the incident.
"When I'm out at breakfast at 8 a.m. in the morning the last thing I appreciate is some photographer threatening me 2 fight while he's 3 deep," he wrote. "When I defend myself/my kids that don't make me a tough guy. I was outnumbered and threatened so I did what any man would ... paparazzi cried like young girls when it was no longer 3 of them against me and my kids."
Barker is a busy and in-demand musician at the moment: He has Blink-182's reunion album, his own solo record (which is due some time in June and features all manner of guest spots, from Slash to Snoop Dogg to Corey Taylor from Slipknot) and an upcoming set of tour dates with DJ A-Trak.
TMZ reports that Kanye West might face only misdemeanor charges in the paparazzi scuffle that happened at Los Angeles International Airport Thursday morning. While the camera his road manager smashed was worth around $1,400, the rapper only grabbed a $100 light unit.