Paparazzi

Kanye West says he went after that photog at LAX because he feared for his safety ... and that's why he pulled out a can of whoop ass and used it.

Kanye is responding to the civil suit filed by the paparazzo who claims Kanye assaulted him on July 19th at LAX and caused him serious injury. According to Kanye's answer to the lawsuit, filed by Shawn Holley and obtained by TMZ ... he believed "his safety was in immediate danger." And then there's this: "[Kanye] responded to this assault by doing only those acts that were reasonably necessary for his self-defense ..."

Jon Gosselin's ex-wife isn't the least bit surprised he fired a warning shot at a photog -- and while she's choosing her words very carefully ... Kate Gosselin seems to be saying she's gotten used to erratic behavior from him.

Kate claims she's not even aware of what happened -- even though it was in the news all weekend -- saying she doesn't pay attention to what her ex does.

But when the camera guy explained what happened she wasn't shocked by Jon's gunslinging, saying ... "Nothing surprises me anymore."

TMZ broke the story ... Jon said he was sending a message when he popped a cap into the air after a paparazzo followed him onto private property.

Jon Gosselin says he will NOT press charges against the paparazzo who was allegedly trespassing on his lawn when he fired a warning shot from his gun ... TMZ has learned.

Jon tells us the photog learned her lesson Friday -- and after scaring the life out of her for following him onto private property to take photos ... he thinks she got the hint.

"The message that I take my family's privacy seriously was sent loud and clear" says JG adding, "I trust that she will respect that in the future."

Jon Gosselin pulled a gun on a photog in Pennsylvania yesterday -- then fired off a warning shot before chasing her away in his car ... and TMZ obtained photos of the scary encounter.

It all went down yesterday in Beckersville, PA when a photog (not ours) followed the reality star home from his new waiter's gig ... trying to snap photos of the cabin where Jon lives.

The photog fessed up ... she followed him off the main roads and onto dirt roads ... but assumed it was a public road and not private property.

We're told as soon as she started snapping away ... Jon made an aggressive bee-line for her ... then pulled a gun out of the back of his pants.

The photog says Jon started yelling at her for trespassing ... then fired off a warning shot.

The photog says she booked it ... but Jon followed her until she got back on the main road.

We're told the photog plans to hit up local police this afternoon to file a report.

11:00 AM PT -- Checkmate! The photog just went to the cop shop and she saw the light -- if she filed a complaint the police would have probably ended up charging HER with criminal trespass.

Jon Gosselin has no apology for firing a warning shot to scare off a trespassing paparazzo, because he tells TMZ it's within his legal right.

Gosselin says the female photog is the one who broke the law by trespassing and repeatedly refusing to leave his private property ... which he says gave him the right to bust a cap.

"I am licensed to carry a concealed handgun, which I withdrew and used to fire a warning shot AWAY from the paparazza" Jon says, adding, "It is well within my rights under Pennsylvania law when someone is trespassing on private property."

Gosselin is calling the photogs bluff -- she says she's filing police report -- because he's certain cops will tell her a thing or two about trespassing and a person's right to protect their property.

Jon says he's mulling over his own legal right ... because he's really pissed at the pap.

Whether it's legal or not for Jon to fire the shot ... it did the trick.

Mel Gibson could not have been happier to see the gaggle of paparazzi waiting for him in West Hollywood Wednesday night ... or was he just dripping with sarcasm?

Kanye West is getting prosecuted for screwing with a photographer's equipment at LAX, but Lamar Odom basically did the same thing and he's not facing criminal charges ... and TMZ knows why.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... honchos in the L.A. City Attorney's Office cut Lamar a break because this is the first time he ever went on the attack against a paparazzo. You'll recall Lamar went into a photog's car and chucked his camera equipment into the street, damaging it. Lamar has been ordered to attend an informal hearing but will NOT face criminal charges.

Our sources say the reason they're going after Kanye is his history of attacking photographers. Specifically, the City Attorney has zeroed in on another incident at LAX back in 2008, when he grabbed a photog's camera and threw it to the ground. The case was filed, but later dismissed after Kanye paid for the repair.

Kanye West has been charged with criminal battery and attempted grand theft for allegedly attacking a paparazzo at LAX on July 19 ... TMZ has learned.

Kanye went off on the photog ... who dared to speak with him as he left the airport. The photog went to the hospital and has filed a lawsuit. The photog hired Gloria Allred, who has said the attack left her client badly injured.

Just days before the attack Kanye issued multiple warnings to the paparazzi NOT to speak to him.

If convicted of both misdemeanors ... Kanye faces a maximum of 1 year in jail.

He'll be arraigned October 10th.

We attempted to reach Kanye's lawyer, Blair Berk, but her assistant said she was unavailable "because it's the highest holy day of the year for Jews" and she was at services.

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS VIDEO ... IT'S CRAZY.

TMZ has obtained video of a paparazzo on an out-of-control bicycle Thursday ... careening into Nicole Kidman and knocking her flat on her butt -- and he was going FAST.

You see photog Carl Wu trying in vain to stop as he careened into Nicole outside the Carlyle Hotel in NYC. You also hear Nicole screaming about pressing charges, and Carl profusely apologizing.

FYI, Carl wasn't arrested because cops said it was just an accident -- but he was cited for riding his bike on a sidewalk.

Amazingly ... Nicole wasn't injured.

Lamar Odom has just been sued by the photog whose equipment the NBA star trashed on the street back in July ... and the pap is partly blaming Kanye West for Lamar's outburst, TMZ has learned.

Stefan Saad filed the lawsuit, claiming the NBA star assaulted him and destroyed more than $15,000 worth of camera equipment during the attack in the middle of a Hollywood street ...all in an effort to avoid negative press.

The lawsuit trashes the Kardashians and Lamar with gems like this -- "The Kardashian clan has apparently come to believe that it is above the law, and has some exceptional privilege to disregard the rights of others."

The lawsuit goes on "The Kardashian clan are not only wealthy and attractive -- but also deeply flawed."

As we reported, Lamar blew a gasket after the pap peppered him with questions about cheating on Khloe, opening Saad's car and tossing all his gear onto the pavement, including expensive camera equipment.

Lamar then took a bundle of the photog's crap, placing it in his own car. The entire incident was caught on tape.

According to Stefan's lawsuit, Lamar feels like he's "above the law" because he's married to a Kardashian sister. Stefan even believes Kanye West had a hand in all this, claiming the rapper (who's dating Kim) advised him on how to deal with paparazzi in a Kanye fashion.

Jennifer Love Hewitt and fiance Brian Hallisay were involved in a pasta-fueled confrontation with a photog Friday night ... and cops have launched a criminal investigation.

JLH and Brian were leaving the always-delicious Toscana restaurant in Brentwood when a pesky paparazzo prepared to snap some pics. We're told the couple asked the photog to lay off, but he ignored them and started snapping away.

Hallisay then allegedly got into it with the cameraman, and during the scuffle the photog claims the camera hit him in the face -- near his eye.

Apparently Jen -- who is pregnant -- felt so bad she let the photog snap a few more pics ... and then she and Hallisay left.

Unlike Toscana's rigatoni, the confrontation didn't go down well with the photog, because law enforcement sources tell us he went to the cop shop a few hours later and filed a battery report against Hallisay. Our sources say when he came to the station there was no visible injury to his face or eye.

10:00 AM PT -- A rep for the NYPD tells us ... cops have spoken with both the photog and Alec who each admit pushing and shoving each other.

We're told both parties ultimately decided to walk away from the situation without pursuing charges.

So ... case closed.

Alec Baldwin has struck again ... allegedly ... grabbing a photog on the streets of New York in front of several witnesses ... and now the NYPD is involved.

Sources connected with Baldwin tell TMZ ... the photog was the aggressor.

We spoke to the photog -- not a TMZ guy -- who tells us he did nothing to provoke Alec saying, "All I can say is I was doing my job asking him normal questions and he flipped. That's all."

The photog says he called police ... and cops responded to the scene.

A friend of Alec tells us ... Alec was with his wife Hilaria during the incident ... and Hilaria, in an effort to avoid the pap, ducked into a nearby tea store. We're told Alec also called police.

The friend tells us, "What kind of sick twisted psychopath chases a woman who just got out of the hospital from having a baby into a tea store?"

Hilaria just gave birth to the couple's daughter on August 23.

Story developing ...

Lamar Odom has just dodged a bullet -- he will NOT be prosecuted for trashing a photog's equipment ... TMZ has learned.

The L.A. City Attorney will not file criminal vandalism charges against Khloe's hubby for destroying a camera guy's equipment last month in Hollywood. Instead, as TMZ reported several days ago, the matter will be set for an informal hearing in the City Attorney's office.

The hearing is basically a sit down with both Lamar and the photog. The hearing office will explain the ground rules when there's a dispute between a celeb and the paparazzi. It's possible ... at the end of the hearing, Lamar could be ordered to attend anger management classes.

But short story ... victory for Lamar.

Kanye West left an innocent photog in crutches after a brutal assault at LAX last month -- when Kanye attempted to wrestle away the pap's camera -- so says the photog himself, and now he's filed a lawsuit against the rapper.

Daniel Ramos appeared with his lawyer Gloria Allred at a news conference Wednesday, where Gloria announced the lawsuit for assault, battery, and interference with Daniel's civil rights (in this case free speech).

Daniel -- who called himself a "filmmaker" -- says he spent two weeks on crutches after the attack, and has been walking with a cane for some time. He says he's still in pain.

Gloria argued the attack sets a dangerous precedent for celebrity-on-photog violence, especially now that various celebs are actually celebrating unprovoked attacks on photogs.

At one point, Gloria went after Kirstie Alley, Cher, and even Kylie Jenner for applauding Kanye's attack on Twitter.

Gloria says she's also asking the court to issue a restraining order against Kanye.

Kanye West is about to get pounded by a woman -- Gloria Allred.

Allred just said she's repping the photog Kanye attacked at LAX last month and says she's filing a lawsuit against the rapper.

What's complicating things for Kanye -- the L.A. City Attorney is currently mulling over whether to prosecute Kim K's baby daddy for vandalism and battery in connection with the attack. Up to this point the likely outcome was that -- even if a criminal case were filed -- the photog would make a financial settlement and the case would go away.

It's possible Allred will try to score a big payday for the photog and the case would still be dropped, but let's be honest ... this case will be high profile ... which is Allred's sweet spot. Short story -- the chances Kanye will be prosecuted just got way bigger.

Gloria's holding a news conference at 1 PM PT. We'll be livestreaming.