Local stand-up comic Lavar Walker was allegedly beat up by fellow comic Mike Epps and two of his unidentified friends outside Uptown Comedy Corner Saturday night.
Walker had recently taped a 15-second video spoofing Epps' recent beef with comic Kevin Hart. Epps, in town shooting a Starz TV comedy 'Survivor's Remorse," saw the parody, heard Walker was at the club and came over, a good source of mine told me Sunday night.
Epps and his entourage asked for Walker to go outside behind the club, according to the report filed for the Atlanta Police Department. Walker said Epps verbally threatened him. Then Epps punched him in the face, the report said. Walker fell to the ground and was kicked and punched some more by Epps and two other men, presumably Epps' friends, he said.
The police report said the suspects threw Mr. Walker's cell phone onto the roof of the comedy club and crushed his prescription glasses. He said the two men drove off in a white Yukon and Epps, wearing a red baseball hat, a jogging suit top and jeans, drove off in a red Ferrari.
Epps "struck me and two other guys struck me," Walker told 11 Alive. "All over a joke." (I texted Walker but have not heard back.)
The cop who wrote the report spoke to a witness who saw the fight but wouldn't be able to ID the perpetrators. There were cameras in the area but they had not yet figured out if the incident had been caught on tape.
Chris Stewart, Walker's attorney, said, "It looks like somebody stepped on his face. It was a vicious beating over a silly video."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Walker was treated at Grady Hospital for a contusion on the head and other facial and body bruises. He was released at 6 a.m. Sunday morning.
Craig Wilson, an owner at the club, said he was in the ticket booth when the altercation happened and has no first-hand knowledge of what occurred.
The APD didn't have immediate access to the police report Walker field on a Sunday, and I have not heard back yet from Epps' publicist.
Walker, a pharmacist, was part of Shaquille O'Neal's recent All Star Comedy Jam tour. Prior to that tour, Walker opened for Hart and won a Hart-hosted 2012 Miller Lite Comedy Competition in Las Vegas.
Epps, a veteran stand-up comic, was in the films "Next Friday" and "Friday After Next." He frequently does shows in Atlanta, most recently at the Fabulous Fox Theatre last month. He also regularly hosts BET's Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta.
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