SANTA MONICA, Calif. - A hip-hop music awards ceremony erupted in chaos Monday night after rap pioneer Dr. Dre, awaiting a lifetime achievement award, apparently was punched in the face and his bodyguards set upon the attacker.
The second-annual Vibe Awards were halted as police swarmed the hangar at Santa Monica Airport, where about 1,000 people were attending a taping of the show. Santa Monica police summoned reinforcements from neighboring law enforcement agencies.
In the chaos, a man was stabbed, police said. The victim, who was identified by police only as a 26-year-old Los Angeles resident, was in stable condition at a hospital. The show, named for the magazine that celebrates hip-hop and other urban music, was being taped for broadcast last night on UPN when the violence broke out.
The stabbing took place about 7:30 p.m., as Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, was being introduced before receiving a special award presented by rapper Snoop Dogg and producer Quincy Jones.
According to an associate of Dre's, a man walked up to Dre's table and punched him. Dre's bodyguards then went after the man. It was unknown whether he was the stabbing victim.
Witness Frank Williams said Dr. Dre was involved in the brawl. "I saw Dr. Dre fighting somebody," Williams told KCAL-TV. "I don't know if he was fighting back. But there was a guy taken out basically bloodied."
The Santa Monica police spokesman said that after the stabbing incident, reinforcements from neighboring communities were summoned because the crowd in attendance became "somewhat chaotic." He said, "Once we got officers in, we were able to control the crowd."
After order was restored, the ceremony resumed, and Dre was presented with his award.
The Associated Press contributed to this article. The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Publishing newspaper.
