Bennett Sipes, who Younes Bendjima punched in March outside a West Hollywood hot spot wants to sue the model, Drake and Odell Beckham Jr.
The victim’s attorney, Colin Jones of Wilshire Law Firm, tells Us Weekly that they recently notified Bendjima, 25, the “In My Feelings” rapper, 31, and the New York Giants player, 25, about their intent to file a lawsuit if a settlement is not reached.
“We want to give parties that are responsible for causing harm an opportunity to do the right thing without having to involve the court,” Jones tells Us. “Those [notices] went out … and that was before we ever saw the video because we couldn’t get the video until a formal lawsuit was filed, so the timing was rather ironic.”
Though the incident occurred in the early hours of March 24, it did not make headlines until Thursday, August 23, when TMZ released surveillance footage of Bendjima, 25, punching Sipes and pulling his hair. Drake and Beckham stood nearby and watched, but they did not partake in the fight.
“Once we saw that video, we saw that Younes Bendjima was heavily involved in this assault, throwing many, many punches at our client, so we sent out a settlement demand,” Jones says. “I’m confident that [Bendjima, Drake and Beckham] will be in contact soon.”
A source close to the incident tells Us that Sipes went over to the stars’ VIP area at the restaurant to locate a member of his party. The insider claims that Drake or Beckham “gave an acknowledgement to security to get [Sipes] out of there, and it was done so in a very aggressive manner.” However, another source who was there countered to TMZ that Sipes “talked smack” to the group, which sparked the fight.
TMZ reported that the employee filed a police report at the time, but decided not to press charges.
The release of the video came just weeks after Kourtney Kardashian broke up with Bendjima, whom she dated for nearly two years. A source recently told Us that the split “hasn’t been an easy” one for the model, and it “doesn’t help that he’s a hot-tempered person.”
