Busta Rhymes charged with assault after allegedly punching man in the face

Busta Rhymes has been charged with assault after allegedly punching a man in the face in New York City.

TMZ and the New York Post first reported that the rapper turned himself into a police station in Brooklyn on Tuesday (January 14) and has since been charged with misdemeanour assault, attempted assault and harassment.

Rhymes – real name Trevor Smith Jr. – is now due to appear in a criminal court on February 3, with the New York Police Department stating that the case is “ongoing”.

According to New York state law, a misdemeanour assault means a person intentionally inflicts physical injury, “recklessly causes physical injury” or “causes physical injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument”.

The incident is thought to have occurred on January 10, with a 50-year-old man being punched in the face multiple times in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighbourhood.

The rap legend was recently awarded with the Global Icon Award at the MTV Europe Music Awards, with UK hip-hop star Little Simz presenting him with the prize.

In November, he also applauded GloRilla for her “unfiltered” authenticity, describing the 25-year-old as “a different type of beautiful”.

“What I love about GloRilla – and I hope that we can hold on to this GloRilla as long as possible before she evolves to her Beyoncé level – but the GloRilla that we love is the GloRilla that we see ourselves in,” he continued. “Like, we see [ourselves] in her. She is unfiltered, she is not politically correct and she is the truth. And the beauty is, when you are untainted by the industry. Her music speaks to my soul like that.”

Busta Rhymes also appeared on the new album ‘THE FORCE’ by fellow New York rap veteran LL Cool J last year, alongside the likes of Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Nas and Rick Ross.