Drake appeared to break his silence over his involvement in a brawl at the Wip nightclub in Manhattan, while performing at Jones Beach, Long Island on Saturday (June 23, 2012). The 'Take Care' rapper has been linked with the violent bar fight, which also involved his rival Chris Brown.
Both men were in the nightclub at the time of the incident, though left before police arrived at the scene. Initial reports had suggested the rappers had come to blows over Rihanna, though Drake appeared to suggest he was not the one who started brawl while speaking on-stage at the weekend. According to the New York Daily News, the Canadian rapper told the crowd, "A n*gger in the corner is standing there looking at you funny.You bump elbows with him on the way to the bathroom, but really there's only one n*gger that you got to think about". He later added, "When I woke up this morning, I had to think about a lot of things. But the only thing I gave a f*ck about was that I was in New York City tonight". The rapper has remained largely silent on the specifics of what happened at the club, though his representative issued a statement denying any wrongdoing, saying, "Drake did not participate in any wrongdoing of any kind last night at W.i.P. He was on his way out of the club when the altercation began. He did not engage in any activity which resulted in injury to person or damage to property".
The club itself was shut down by law-enforcement officials this weekend, who cited a list of previous violations before last Thursday's brawl. An Nypd spokesman told E! News, "The owners would agree to the closing by Nypd for up to 235 days if additional assaults and other violations of the agreement occurred".