“Smack That”

June 12th, 2007 | Music Guru | Music News

Akon’s attorney released a statement Wednesday in which he disputes that his client engaged in a criminal act when, as seen in video footage making the Internet rounds, Akon helped a guy onstage during a concert Sunday in Fishkill, New York, and then hoisted him over his shoulders and tossed him back into the crowd.

Video of rapper Akon throwing the boy off stage.

The “Smack That” rapper was dropped by Verizon as a featured artist in May after a video surfaced showing him simulating sex with a girl brought onstage for a “dance contest” during an April concert in Trinidad.

The girl turned out to be only 15, not even old enough to be in the 18-and-over venue, and the incident prompted public apologies both from the girl, a pastor’s daughter, and from Akon.

“I want to sincerely apologize for the embarrassment and any pain I’ve caused to the young woman who joined me onstage, her family and the Trinidad community for the events at my concert,” he said in a statement last month.

Verizon also pulled out of sponsoring Gwen Stefani’s current tour, on which Akon—her partner on the tune “Sweet Escape”—is the opening act.