Pitbull was a sensation when he first arrived. The Latin-inspired Miami emcee burst onto the scene in the mid-2000s and rose to chart dominance towards the end of the decade with anthems such as ‘Hotel Room Service’ and ‘Took My Love’.
Although the Florida rhymer, also known as ‘Mr Worldwide’, made high-energy, upbeat songs, in 2009, a video surfaced online of the act (real name Armando Pérez) punching a fan in the face during a performance.
During the video, you can see fans enjoying a show when one fan begins throwing money on the stage. However, following this, Pérez brought up the fan, who proceeded to throw the notes in the rapper’s face.
After this show of disrespect, Pitbull immediately knocked the guy down with a punch to the face. In an interview with MTV, Pérez explained the story behind the incident, stating, “They don’t show the whole clip of what happened.”
He continued, “Before the song ‘Bojangles,’ I play a whole set, and I only get three breaks. I was going into ‘Bojangles’ and this muthaf*cka had already made it rain, like, three times. He threw a gang of money in the air and I was scooting the money, giving it to the crowd. I didn’t touch the money, but I was scooting it, giving it to the crowd.”
The Miami native explained that he had already given the man three verbal warnings. Detailing this, he continued, “I told him, ‘Look, dog, you already got three strikes. Don’t make it rain no more. I’m telling you. I ain’t gonna talk about it no more. I’m just gonna be about it. Don’t do it no more.'”
The fan did it again. Pitbull explained that he had no intention of hitting him, but it became necessary when the fan approached his face, unveiling, “No way, shape or form was that my intention. It was more like a reaction, self-defence. Mind you, I’ve been in shows before , and I done got hit with a bottle. Any time I see anything moving onstage, I’m cautious about it. You feel me? As soon as he threw that money, it was on from there.”
With past experiences suggesting to Pitbull that crowds can be dangerous, there is no surprise that he reacted so badly to a confrontational member of the audience.
You can see the video of Pitbull punching a fan in the face below.
