Jay Kay in premiere party brawl

With blood streaming from his nose, Jamiroquai pop star Jay Kay was quizzed by police early today after an ugly altercation with a photographer after the Star Wars premiere.

The disco funk star was allegedly butted by a photographer he had earlier punched and accused of damaging his new £70,000 Bentley.

Jay Kay was attending a premiere party at the St Martin's Lane Hotel for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones when he emerged with a drink in his hand and joked with photographers. He posed and smiled and said he had no intention of fighting with anyone, unlike his public brawl with bouncers three months ago at the Brit Awards.

Moments after retrieving his cigarettes from his car, he became involved in a heated verbal argument with photographers.

He later accused one photographer of damaging his car with a kick. He allegedly punched the photographer, breaking the flash on his camera, and said he would kick him like he had kicked his car.

The photographer headbutted the 32-year-old pop star, whose nose started to bleed. Jay Kay abused the media pack as he clutched his face to stem the blood before taking shelter in the hotel. Minutes later he ran back outside to tangle again with the photographer. He was wrestled away from the hotel by security staff before police arrived.

He was questioned at the scene by police who also took statements from on-lookers.

No charges have been laid but a spokesman for Scotland Yard said the matter was still being investigated. "At approximately 1.25am, police were called to an alleged assault in St Martin's Lane," the spokesman said.

"A male suffered cuts to the face and nose and obviously we will investigate." The spokesman confirmed the artist and photographer had each made "contradictory allegations to common assault" against each other and formal police statements are expected to be taken later today.

The multi-award winning music artist, famed for his outrageous taste in headwear and love for high performance cars, is due to perform tonight at the Broadway Boulevard in Ealing.

A Jamiroquai spokeswoman said today she was unaware of the clash and could not say whether it would affect the show.

One witness at the scene described Kay as happy and friendly as he emerged from the hotel. "He came out smiling and saying he was not going to pick a fight," the witness said.

Kay, who once dated Chicago star Denise Van Outen, has made headlines in the past. At the Brit Awards in February, he became involved in a fight at the bar of an after-show party. He had to be removed by bouncers. A month earlier, he bragged to a woman's magazine about how he drove at 175mph and got away with it. He has had three driving bans for speeding.

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