Kanye cleared in airport scuffle

Kanye West has avoided criminal prosecution over an altercation with a photographer have been dropped, though the rap star will have to complete community service. The rapper and his manager Don Crowley were arrested over a scuffle with a member of the paparazzi in September 2008, with both charged with assault, theft and vandalism after allegedly breaking the photographer’s camera flash. After a plea from West’s lawyer Blair Berk that his client had been “”wildly overcharged”, Los Angeles superior court commissioner Mark Zuckman dismissed the charges against West and Crowley. Both men have completed an anger management course since the incident and must complete 50 hours of community service. It is believed the Stronger star and the paparazzo in question have also reached a civil settlement over the case. West was last week the victim of an online hoax when it was claimed he had died in a car crash, with internet spammers infecting web links with viruses.