Let's Check in On Travis Scott at The Paris Olympics

Handout. Getty Images.

NY Post - Rapper Travis Scott has been arrested in Paris for getting into a drunken brawl with his bodyguard hours after he sat courtside to watch Team USA at the Olympics, according to local reports.

The “Butterfly Effect” hitmaker, 33, was detained by police early Friday following a boozy night out in the French capital with his entourage, local outlet Le Parisien reports.

The heated exchange between Scott, whose real name is Jacques Webster, and his bodyguard — which reportedly turned physical — took place at the luxury Four Seasons Hotel George V hotel in the city’s posh 8th arrondissement.

According to NBC, the Paris prosecutor’s officer said in a statement: “I can confirm that on August 9, 2024, police officers were called to the George V hotel and arrested the rapper nicknamed Travis Scott for assaulting a security guard.”

“The security guard had intervened to separate the rapper from his bodyguard. The Paris public prosecutor’s office has referred the case to the 1st district of the judicial police,” the statement reportedly added.

A fun little thing about Paris hosting the Summer Olympics is number of athletes & celebrities you'll see in the audience. Must more so than at past Olympics. Paris, France is a far more enticing and accessible place for the rich & famous to spend a week watching America assert their dominance than say… Tokyo, Rio de Janero, Beijing, Brisbane, etc. 

Sure, 50% of the time the camera pans to a notable person in the crowd it's just Snoop Dogg in a Halloween costume. But the other 50% of the time, you never know who you're gonna get. I've seen the likes of John Travolta, Tom Cruise, Terry Crews, Tom Brady, among a whole slew of other fan favorites.

Of all the celebrities in Paris this week, maybe nobody has had a more eventful couple of days than Travis Scott. I'm not sure when he arrived in Paris. I'm not sure if he's been to any events other than basketball. But as of two nights ago, the man has been having a hell of a time. In particular, he's been at war with the Paris paparazzi. 

With all due respect to France, but there's something about paparazzi with a French accent that makes 100x more insufferable than non-French paparazzi. No offense, but the second I heard that paparazzo open his mouth I wanted to see Travis Scott choke slam through the pavement. No offense. 

But the problem with paparazzi, and what I imagine makes dealing with them so fucking maddening, is that there's no way to win other than to ignore them completely. And even that's not really winning. It's certainly not satisfying. But the moment you react at all… the moment you decide you're going to teach them a lesson and put them in their place… the paparazzi wins. The paparazzi got one on Travis Scott here. They followed his ass around all day long until he finally couldn't take it anymore and gave them the exact video they set out to acquire. 

Paparazzi - 1
Travis Scott - 0

Advertisement

But that's fine. Nothing too terrible there. It was really nothing more than a funny little exchange between an American rapper and a few insufferable French assholes. Travis Scott made it safely back to his hotel and got some shut eye in preparation for a big day of watching best basketball players in the world compete courtside with his good pals Quavo and Michael Rubin. 

You couldn't have asked for a more exciting couple of games. Watching USA-Serbia yesterday alone on my laptop was arguably the most fun I've ever had watching basketball. I can only imagine what being courtside was like.

Advertisement

Well said Travis. But things went extremely south for him after that. Turns out, his silly little "go get some grass" interaction with the paparazzi the night before did not fully satiate them. Not even close. It only made them hungrier for more. Now knew Travis Scott could be had. They had him on told. If they could just pester the guy enough, they might even be so lucky that he punches them right in the mouth. That's a lawsuit right there. A million dollar lawsuit from a celebrity attacking you is the holy grail for a paparazzo. 

Let's see how round 2 played out

Ok… no punches thrown… yet. He certainly thought about it. He squared up on somebody there at the start of the video. But it was more of a, "made you flinch" type of square up than a real threat. Overall it looked like a pretty harmless interaction. Travis is clearly annoyed, but he has a bit of a hop in his step. He seemed to be having some fun with it. Not to mention he's very drunk. Thankfully, he managed to get somewhat of a police escort. But there's no denying the paparazzi got to him once again. 

Paparazzi - 2
Travis Scott - 0

If only we had video of what happened next. Apparently the combination of a police escort + his own paid bodyguards wasn't enough to keep the paparazzi at bay. The Paris paparazzi are ruthless. Ruthless enough, that one of them managed to get a inside the trunk of Travis Scott's car.

The source said that Scott has been followed by paparazzi while moving around the city during the Olympics, and that one pap was allegedly looking in the trunk of Scott’s car when the rapper confronted his own guard asking why he’d let the pap look in the vehicle’s trunk, and the argument ensued. 

If the Paris Paparazzi were a Mortal Kombat character, "Looking in the Trunk" was their finishing move. They peppered him for 48 hours straight with camera flashes and annoying accent attacks. Once they had Travis Scott's health bar down to that little tiny sliver of red, it was the trunk look like finally made him crash out (sorry I've never played Mortal Kombat I don't have any better references).

According to NBC, the Paris prosecutor’s officer said in a statement: “I can confirm that on August 9, 2024, police officers were called to the George V hotel and arrested the rapper nicknamed Travis Scott for assaulting a security guard.”

“The security guard had intervened to separate the rapper from his bodyguard. The Paris public prosecutor’s office has referred the case to the 1st district of the judicial police,” the statement reportedly added.

Paparazzi - 3
Travis Scott - 0

Another successful night for the Paris Paparazzi. They could have given in after night one. They could have taken Travis Scott's advice to put down their cameras and take a girl out for ice cream. But they refused to be complacent. They weren't going to stop until they riled up Travis to the point of turning on his own people and assaulting a hotel security guard. That's how it's done in the paparazzi business. However much money they made off their harassment last night, they can hold their heads high knowing they put their very worst foot forward. Just another night of honest work making celebrities lives hell. 

Advertisement

And luckily for Travis Scott, as a celebrity rapper with generational wealth, none of this matters in the slightest. I'm sure Michael Rubin has already bailed him out. I'm sure he'll be back courtside tomorrow night as USA take on France in the Gold Medal game. But if he thinks the paparazzi are done with him yet, he's got another thing coming. Just keep your head down and ignore them, Travis. Maybe do the Taylor Swift thing and buy a bunch of umbrellas so your security can make a full wall around you as you walk to your car.