October 31, 2007

Kid Rock Won't Be Charged For VMA Fight With Tommy Lee

By Kurt Orzeck (MTV.com)

A month after Kid Rock and Tommy Lee famously fought at the 2007 Video Music Awards, it looks like the former rocker might owe a thank-you to the latter one. Kid Rock won't be charged for the fight, with Lee reportedly having asked that Rock not be prosecuted, according to Extra.

The TV show revealed the news Monday (October 29) after reportedly speaking with Las Vegas authorities. "The Clark County District Attorney's Office will not pursue a battery charge," Chief Deputy District Attorney Ron Bloxham said, according to Extra. "It should be noted that Tommy Lee has requested that there be no prosecution relating to the incident and there were no injuries to either person."

That's good news for Rock (real name: Robert James Ritchie), who had already been cited for misdemeanor battery for his assault on Lee (real name: Thomas Lee Bass). He's had a tumultuous month since the fight, getting into a scuffle at a Waffle House for which he faces a misdemeanor battery charge; being sued by Maurice Foreman, a man who claimed Rock lifted parts of a Foreman song for his new single "So Hott"; and getting knocked off the top of the Billboard albums chart by Bruce Springsteen shortly after having overpowered the Boss.

Rock, who seemingly overpowered Lee during their VMA run-in, later said the incident was no accident. "What it boils down to is a level of disrespect for a lot of years between me and him - him towards me - and it had nothing to do with [Lee and Rock's ex-wife] Pamela [Anderson]," he told MTV News earlier this month.

Anderson subsequently said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she was going to stay out of the matter, while Lee later apologized for the incident disrupting Alicia Keys' performance that evening.