A celebrity stylist was left red-faced at a KANYE WEST concert at New York's Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night (13May08) when forceful security guards threw him out before the show started.
Phillip Bloch, who dresses stars such as John Travolta and Salma Hayek, was asked to leave the venue by three guards who thought he was smoking marijuana during the show.
And Bloch is furious at the way the situation was dealt with by the security personnel, insisting it was a group of youths in a nearby stall who were the weed-smoking culprits.
He explains, "The whole stadium smelled like pot, and the kids behind us were smoking. I'm sitting there having fun, laughing. Then I get an order to go with this man.
"They say, 'You're leaving, give us your ticket.' I held it up, they took it. At that point they grabbed me by my arms to take me out, so I threw my hands up and said, 'You've got to keep off me. I'm no threat.'"
According to New York gossip column Page Six, the security guards took their brutal eviction too far, reportedly pinning Bloch against a wall and giving him a "sharp jab in the left rib".
Bloch agrees with the reports, stating, "They never asked for ID, never asked for my name. It was complete brutality. One pushed me out with his knee in my back. I still can't wrap my head around this."
However, Madison Square Garden spokesmen Barry Watkins stands by the security guard's actions, saying, "MSG policy is if you are caught smoking an illegal substance it's cause for immediate ejection."
