Posted on: Jun 21 2016
JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr. | June 23, 2012 | New York Times
Tony Parker, a point guard for the San Antonio Spurs, has filed a $20 Million lawsuit against the W.i.P. nightclub in New York and its operators, saying his left eye was damaged during a brawl at the club last week involving the R&B singer Chris Brown, the rapper Drake and their entourages.
The suit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday, says the owners of the club, on Vandam Street in SoHo, did not provide enough security guards and were negligent in allowing Mr. Brown and Drake in the club at the same time “despite known tension between the two.”
The lawsuit says Mr. Parker was sitting at a table apart from Mr. Brown and Drake when the fight erupted on June 14, during which his cornea was injured, hindering his ability to play basketball, the complaint said.
The owners of the club declined to comment on the lawsuit, according to their publicist, Elizabeth Rosenthal.
On Friday, the New York State Liquor Authority filed a total of 14 charges, dating to March 11, against W.i.P. and a club above it, Greenhouse, which belongs to the same partners. Some counts were related to the brawl, including a charge of allowing the premises “to become disorderly by suffering or permitting an altercation and/or assault to occur.” The owners have until July 11 to respond to the charges.
“This place has a history of violations, so they’re obviously looking at losing their license,” said William Crowley Jr., an agency spokesman. He added that the owners had been fined more than $15,000 in recent years.
Last week, the police shut down W.i.P. and Greenhouse.
Dareh Gregorian & Dan Mangan | June 22, 2012 | New York Post
This wasn’t the kind of bottle service NBA star Tony Parker had in mind.
The San Antonio Spurs guard — injured in the Chris Brown-Drake melee at a SoHo nightclub — filed a $20 Million lawsuit against its owners today, saying they should have known better than to let the Rihanna love rivals in at the same time.
In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Parker holds W.i.P.’s owners responsible for the “corneal laceration of the left eye and other injuries” he suffered in the bottle-throwing brawl at the now-shuttered Vandam Street club.
His lawyer, David Jaroslawicz, said the extent of Parker’s wounds aren’t yet known but noted eye injuries “certainly don’t improve your outside shot.”
The suit does not name Brown or Drake, who have both dated Rihanna, as defendants but blames the club for creating the combustible combination.
“The defendants were reckless, careless and negligent in permitting Drake’s entourage and Brown’s entourage to be in the club at the same time despite known tension between the two,” the filing says.
“She’s been known, like Helen of Troy, to cause trouble,” Jaroslawicz said of Rihanna.
Sources said Drake, 25, sent Brown into a rage when his table sent over note that read, “I am f- -king the love of your life.” Brown had just bought the hip-hop star a pricey bottle of Champagne, sources said. Drake’s camp maintains the fight was instigated by a member of Brown’s crew.
Jaroslawicz said it’s the club’s fault.
By selling both camps booze and giving them bottle service, “you’re throwing gasoline on the flames,” Jaroslawicz said. He said he had yet to see their bar tab, “but it’s probably more than kids’ tuition for the year.”
The suit says Parker, ex-hubby of actress Eva Longoria, wasn’t sitting with either camp. But he has said he was “with my friend Chris Brown” when the problems started. “Me and my friends took some punches,” Parker said. “They started throwing bottles everywhere,” he said.
Parker, slated to play with the French team at the Summer Olympics, said he’ll be sidelined for a week as he heals with the aid of a “therapeutic” contact lens. He said that while his eye felt all right at first, “it started getting worse,” and by the time he landed in Paris to work out with the French team, “it was really hurting so I went to the ER.”
He said he’s had to wear a “therapeutic” contact lens.
“I’ll be missing the start of the French team because I can’t do anything for a week except keep the lens in and then take drops,” he said.
A representative for the club declined to comment.
