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| Aaron Carter |
Pop singer Aaron Carter was hospitalized on Friday night, February 17, after he was attacked on stage by a fellow musician who felt insulted by a racially charged idiom he directed towards him while telling him to get out of the venue he was performing at.
The incident happened at the Looney Bin in Bradley, Illinois, where members of the band Ill State lingered around after opening up for the 29-year-old "Aaron's Party" singer. Witnesses say that band member Tommy Solace, who is Latino, was ordered to leave after antagonizing fans, reportedly snatching cellphones to mockingly snap photos of Carter. "Bye Felipe," Carter stated, as he watched Solace being escorted out, from the stage. Moments later Solace managed to re-enter the venue, and find his way on to the stage where Carter says he punched him twice, leaving him bloodied.
"Felipe is a Mexican name and the manner in which he said it was indeed racist if you see the video. I myself come from the south side of Chicago and am no stranger to being racially profiled and discriminated so his remarks got me really angry, especially during these times when racism is so prevalent and people think they can say what they want with no repercussions," fellow band member Haze Carbajal told a local news syndicate, in defense of Solace's actions.
Carter would be treated and then released from a local hospital, but was on social media to clear the air, on Saturday. "This dude sized me up after I said he had to go and said bye Felipe like bye Felicia the male version.. Friday? He needed to go," he tweeted. The singer's rep has since released a statement refuting that he meant anything offensive by the comment, writing: "No racial slur was used by Aaron. His response to his attacker was a pop culture slang phrase equivalent to the phrase 'bye Felica,' also found in the urban dictionary."
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