Paulina Rubio Accused Of Assaulting Photographer

Mexican singer Paulina Rubio is being sued by a Houston man who claims the pop star assaulted him and stole his camera at George Bush Intercontinental Airport last month.

Photojournalist Hector Vela filed a lawsuit on May 6 saying that he and Rubio were on the same United Airlines flight from Miami, and when the passengers deboarded, he approached Rubio for a photograph.

“I saw her flying coach and I asked to take her picture,” Vela told Radar Online.

According to Vela, Rubio “became irritated, abusive and violent.”

“After I took her photograph, she approached me yelling obscenities and told me the camera was hers. I offered to delete the photograph but she kneed me in my private area and took my camera,” Vela said. “She handed it to a male companion and they left on a small airport shuttle.”

Vela’s attorney, Ivan Capellan, said, “Rubio’s actions resulted in physical harm (assault) and economic loss (camera theft). Our client’s camera, his main tool for work, was taken away along with the intellectual property contained within resulting in unaccountable amounts of lost profit.”

Hector Vela is seeking $75,000 in damages from Rubio.

Paulina Rubio has been accused of assault before. Last year, Rubio was accused of attacking her former assistant, Felipe Restrepo Betancur, after he booked her a last-minute flight in coach rather than first class.

The lawsuit alleges that Rubio struck “the Plaintiff with her fists, and verbally abused Plaintiff, calling him names.” The lawsuit also claims that Rubio was violent with Betancur the entire weekend, kicking and slapping him hard enough to cause contusions and abrasions. Betancur is seeking $250,000 for assault and battery.

Rubio’s lawyer claimed Betancur was inebriated and “concocted a fable about being beaten by a woman half his size.” The lawyer also said the alleged incident wasn’t documented or observed by anyone else on the flight.

Are you surprised that Paulina Rubio is being accused of assault for a second time?

[Photo credit: s_bukley / Shutterstock.com]