Odd Future‘s ‘Left Brain’ Vyron Turner has been charged with assault for the incident in which he allegedly slapped a female photographer.
Rolling Stone reports that freelance photographer Amy Harris has opted to press charges against the rapper, who is accused of striking her at the Voodoo Experience festival in New Orleans last month (October 30).
He is now facing a misdemeanour charge for battery which, if found guilty, could see him hit with a fine of up to $1,000 and a maximum prison sentence of six months.
In a statement posted on her website, Harris revealed she had initially not intended to press charges but had changed her mind after Odd Future attacked “her credibility and motives for discussing the incident”.
Last week (November 1), a representative for the hip hop collective said there was “no truth to the accusation” that Turner had attacked Harris, adding: “After telling the photographers to clear out multiple times (as they’ve done before) Vyron (Leftbrain) took a swipe at a few cameras, NOT people. To manipulate the situation [and] to insinuate an attack on a woman specifically is careless and manipulative.”
Harris responded by saying: “I was very disheartened to learn yesterday that Odd Future is denying that one of its members, Vyron Turner (“Left Brain”), engaged in the violent conduct that so many people witnessed and even photographed or videotaped.”
She went on to add:
After he so publicly attacked me, I truly believed that an apology would be immediately forthcoming which is why I declined to press charges at that time. The unexpected turn of events, including an attack by Odd Future on my credibility and motives for discussing the incident, have caused me to re-evaluate my initial decision.
The photographer went on to add that she wanted a “public apology” from the rapper and “a resolution in which Turner is held accountable for his actions”.
Odd Future courted further controversy last week when they were removed from the bill for New Zealand’s Big Day Out festival, after complaints were made about their homophobic lyrics.
The hip hop group will reportedly feature in their own reality TV series in 2012. Loiter Squad, which is being put together by the makers of Jackass, will follow them playing pranks and performing sketches, and will begin airing early next year.
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