Fight Breaks Out at Formula One Party, Wild Video Shows

A fight broke out at a party following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, video footage shared on social media shows.

The Formula 1 event was star-studded, with Naomi Campbell, Priyanka Chopra, Jason Statham, Will.i.am, and Liam and Chris Hemsworth among the attendees. Rapper and businessman Kanye “Ye” West put on a surprise performance in nearby Dubai after several months of maintaining a relatively low profile following a dramatic fall from grace after his string of antisemitic remarks on social media last year.

Sunday marked the event’s grand finale, as the seemingly unstoppable Oracle Red Bull driver Max Verstappen rounded out the season with his 19th win in 22 races.

“It’s been an unforgettable season,” Verstappen said in a statement following the victory. “It was emotional on the in-lap driving the RB19 for the last time. This car and team have given me so much. I have to say a big thank you to everyone at Red Bull, we’ve had an incredible year. It will be hard to replicate a year like this but we always want to do better and to improve, so let’s see what we can do next year.”

However, as the event wrapped, footage was shared on X (formerly Twitter) that appeared to show patrons fighting at an afterparty at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit. Red Bull–branded parasols can be seen over the venue’s tables.

“There’s a fight at the F1 party in Abu Dhabi where Ye is, with ‘All of the Lights’ being played,” a West fan account called Donda Times said in a caption to the footage.

In the footage, West’s 2011-released track is heard playing in the background as men are seen throwing punches at one another at an outdoor gathering.

A number of attendees are shown scrambling over furniture to flee the scene of the disruption as the fighting continues. Men who appear to be employed as security for the venue are then seen closing in to stop the fight.

Footage of the incident has been viewed more than 170,000 times.

Newsweek has contacted representatives of the Yas Marina Circuit and Red Bull Racing via email for comment.

Recently, West became the focus of a social media backlash after footage emerged of him and fellow musician Chris Brown singing the lyrics to the rapper’s new track, “Vultures.”

The track, which also features Ty Dolla Sign and Lil Durk, makes mention of West’s 2022 controversy in the lyrics, which includes the line “How am I antisemitic? I just f***** a Jewish b****.”

The video, shared on social media, saw West and Brown laughing as they danced to and mimed the lyrics to the track.

Last year, West shared an image on X of a swastika blended with the Star of David, a symbol of Judaism. He captioned the post “YE24 LOVE EVERYONE.” The post was removed from the platform shortly after it was shared on December 1, 2022.

In the months preceding the suspension, West made multiple derogatory and “threatening” remarks toward Jews, prompting StopAntisemitism.org to name him “Antisemite of the Year” in 2022, the advocacy and watchdog organization said on X.

StopAntisemitism cited West’s antisemitic views, noting the rapper’s praise of Adolf Hitler during a December 1 appearance on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ show on the InfoWars website.

While on the far-right show, West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, said that he “liked” Hitler and that Nazis “did good things too.”

West’s comments on the segment brought a swift backlash, including from X, which suspended his account in response to the controversy and West’s December 1 tweet. His account was officially banned on December 2, just a few months after it had been reinstated from a previous incident.

X had locked West’s account a few months before the December suspension when he posted on October 10: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con [SIC] 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”

West appeared to have tweeted “death con 3” in reference to the U.S. military defense alert state known as DEFCON.

The Grammy-winning musician said at the time that he “actually can’t be Anti-Semitic because Black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”

West’s October 10 post led to his losing a number of business relationships, including his lucrative partnership with Adidas, with whom he collaborated on his popular Yeezy fashion brand.

A spokesperson for Adidas previously told Newsweek that “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”