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British Columbia

Video shows rapper Rick Ross in heated Vancouver scuffle

American rapper Rick Ross was involved in a violent incident after his set at a festival in Vancouveron Sunday night, according to event organizers.

Someone appears to throw a punch at rapper after festival set, which he closed with diss track targeting Drake

A Black man sings into a microphone at a concert.
Rick Ross, seen here performing in April, played the Ignite Music Festival in Vancouver on Sunday. After the performance, a fight broke out after a punch appeared to have been thrown at the rapper. (Reed Hoffmann/The Associated Press)

American rapper Rick Ross was involved in a violent incident after his set at a festival in Vancouveron Sunday night, event organizers have confirmed, after a video showing a brawl outside B.C. Place Stadium was posted to social media.

Ross, 48, was headlining the Ignite Music Festival, which took place at the Plaza of Nations adjacent to the stadium in the city's downtown.

In a video shared to X, formerly Twitter, Ross is seen in the middle of a crowd trading heated words with another man, who then appears to throw a punch at the rapper; a melee then breaks out.

Lindsay Sparrow, CFO of event organizerCanadian Events Agency, said she was backstage at the time of the fight.

She called it a "short altercation" that was quickly resolved by security, and came after Ross closed his set by playingKendrick Lamar's Not Like Us, a diss track that targets Toronto rapper Drake.

"Security did a great job and ... everyone exited safely, which is always our primary concern for everyone attending the festivals," Sparrow told CBC News.

Other artists on the Ignite festival bill includedSickick and Merkules.

Ross, whose real name isWilliam Leonard Roberts II, has topped the charts numerous times over a nearly three-decade-long career.

Sparrow said the event tried its best to work with law enforcement and have security in place given the sometimes volatile nature of hip-hop performances.

She said she was not aware of any serious injuries or criminal charges as a result of the fight.

Both B.C. Emergency Health Services and the Vancouver Police Department told CBC News they were not called upon to investigate after the altercation.

Ross does not address attack

While Ross did not address the apparent attack afterwards, he issued a farewell post to Vancouver on his Instagram.

"Vancouver it was fun, till next time," the artist wrote in a post next to a picture of a branded private jet.

A man poses next to a private jet marked 'Rick Ross', with a caption reading 'Vancouver it was fun, till next time'.
Ross made no mention of the violence in an Instagram post after the concert. (Rick Ross/Instagram)

Ross is involved in an ongoing feud with Drake, whose war of words with Lamar lit up social media earlier this year as the two artists released a number of songs dissing each other.

Drake's songPush Ups,while directly targeting Lamar, also takes shots at other artists including Ross, Future, Metro Boomin and The Weeknd.

Within 24 hours of Drake releasing Push Upson April 13,Ross responded with a track calledChampagne Moments, in which he accuses Drake of getting a nose job.

Not Like Uswas released by Lamar on May 4 and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart immediately after.

With files from Yasmine Ghania and Kevin Maimann