Booba and Kaaris: French rappers given suspended sentences over airport brawl

Fight between two rivals caused delays of up to 30 minutes at Orly airport

French rapper Booba (left) and Kaaris (right) have been handed suspended sentences over a brawl at Orly airport on 1 August (AFP/Getty Images)

Two French rappers have been handed 18 month suspended sentences after being involved in a brawl at one of the country's busiest airports.

Booba and Kaaris were arrested after the fight on 1 August, which flared up when Booba – whose real name is Elie Yaffa – ran into his rival Kaaris (born Okou Gnakouri) at the terminal of Orly airport.

Video footage of the incident taken by passengers showed the men, who are two of the biggest stars in French rap, punching and kicking each other in a duty free shop and in the waiting lounge, backed by members of their respective entourages. The fight caused delays of up to 30 minutes for hundreds of travellers .

The two men previously collaborated with one another, but fell out after Booba claimed Kaaris failed to back him during his feud with another rapper, Rohff. Booba and Rohff's rivalry has been compared to that of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls in the mid Nineties. In 2014, Rohff was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after he and a group of men beat up a teenage sales assistant in a clothes shop owned by Booba.

Rohff – whose real name is Housni Mkouboi – was handed a five-year jail sentence for the attack on the boy, who was left with life-threatening injuries, following a court case in 2017.

Booba and Kaaris spent three weeks in prison before being released on bail of 30,000 euros.

Prosecutors had to try to establish which rapper was responsible for starting the fight, concluding that Booba likely aimed the first kick. However, Booba told the court that he acted in self-defence after being surrounded by Kaaris and his entourage. Kaaris also claimed that he had acted in self-defence.

A French court ordered both men to pay a 50,000 euro fine on top of their suspended sentences.