50 Cent 'involved in nightclub scuffle'

Police had to break up a shoving match at a club after rapper 50 Cent and his entourage jumped from the stage during a surprise appearance and scuffled in the audience.

Two people were arrested for disturbing the peace during the incident in the Hippodrome club in Springfield, Massachusetts, early on Saturday morning, said Police Captain Charles Arpin.

Police also were investigating whether a nearby shooting was related.

The crowd of 1,400 people did not know 50 Cent was there until he took the stage after the other acts. About 10 minutes into his performance, someone in the crowd threw water at him from a cup or water bottle, Hippodrome co-owner Michael Barrasso said.

“He removed his gold chain, handed it to someone on the stage next to him and jumped off the stage into the crowd,” Mr Barrasso said. The rapper’s entourage, including bodyguards, also jumped off the stage.

The crowd was so dense Mr Barrasso could not tell if there was any fighting beyond pushing. Security guards and police officers pushed the rapper – whose real name is Curtis Jackson – and his entourage back on stage.

“He finished the song, believe it or not,” Mr Barrasso said. “Then the whole entourage and him just rushed for the exit, got in their cars and left.”

Two men were charged with disturbing the peace.

After the incident, a man walked into the Mercy Medical Centre emergency room with a gunshot wound to the leg, saying he had been shot about a block from the theatre.

Mr Arpin said police are not certain if the shooting was related to the disturbance to the Hippodrome.