Talib Kweli gets into heated argument with UK security guards
Talib Kweli got into a heated exchange with security guards during a show in the UK over the weekend.
Kweli was performing at the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester on November 15th as part of his 30 Years of Black Star Tour with Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def).
TMZ obtained footage of Kweli arguing with security following the concert, in which he can be heard yelling, “Shut the fuck up.”
The exchange appeared to be caused by security stepping on stage one minute past the 11pm curfew. One man walked away, with Kweli then telling a Black security guard that they wouldn’t have been so disrespectful to a white artist.
In a statement, Kweli gave his side of the story after fans called out Black Star for showing up late. He claimed they got to the venue at 8:30pm and were ready to start at 9pm before the 11pm curfew. However, he says that at 8:50pm, the venue pushed the show back to 9:15pm, causing them to end the show late.
At 10:58pm, he claimed Black Star were performing their final song when venue staff harassed their team about the 11pm curfew.
“At exactly 11pm, as Black Star was saying good night to the crowd, (we had completed our last song by then) someone from the venue came onto our stage to chastise us and demand we leave the stage,” he said. “This is very disrespectful and not standard.”
He added, “You don’t walk on an artist’s stage during a show. I’m sure they would not have treated a white, UK artist this way, especially when we hadn’t disrespected the curfew at all.”
Speaking on the specific incident in the video, Kweli said, “When I came off stage, I asked to speak to the man who came on the stage. I was instead greeted by aggressive security guards who began to disrespect me immediately, so I argued with them and held them accountable for how they treated us as guests who helped the venue make money.”
He continued, “O2 Manchester called security on their main act for the night to enforce us leaving the stage at 11pm, even though we were already in the process of leaving the stage at that exact time.”