16 MAY 2002
Jamiroquai front man Jay Kay had his face bloodied in an early morning brawl that took place at a bar soon after he attended the London premiere of Attack Of The Clones on Tuesday night. The hat-loving pop idol alleges photographer Alan Grisbrook headbutted him after he accused the snapper of denting the brand new Bentley he’d picked up just hours before.

The trouble all started when Jay Kay singled out the photographer as the culprit. “I went up to him and asked him why he’d done it,” he told The Sun. “The next moment he gave me a nice juicy headbutt... He ran inside the club and I went after him to bring him back to face the music. But everybody held me back.”

Fifty-year-old Alan, however, says he didn’t touch the pricey Bentley. After Jay Kay asked the crowd who had damaged the car, says the photographer, “He then picked on me, probably because I’m the oldest and the smallest… I don’t remember butting him. There could have been a clash of heads, but nothing deliberate.”

Jay Kay’s spokesman revealed the singer’s nose isn’t broken, just swollen and sore, and he is “currently considering what further action, if any, he will take.” Scotland Yard shed little light on the scuffle, saying, “We can confirm two males have made contradictory allegations of common assault against each other. An investigation is continuing.”

“I admit I was angry,” said Jay Kay in the Sun interview. “And so would you be if someone booted your brand new Bentley.” However, the star was able to joke about the incident at Jamiroquai’s Wednesday night concert, telling the audience: “The great thing about being a pop star is you can afford a good nose job.”