First the Borat beatdown, now this. When he's not running for mayor, getting arrested for running for mayor, harassing the New York Press for not getting laid, political gadfly Christopher X. Brodeur backs up the performances of comic-girlfriend Jessica Delfino. Last week, Brodeur was doing just that at the UWS comedy club Stand-Up NY, when he hustled out without paying his automatic $15 cover for neither drinking nor eating. Manager Wayne Rada accosted Brodeur and, empowered by his ridiculous tie/scarf, throttled Brodeur around the sidewalk among shouted dramatics on all sides. Three cop cars arrived, setting some kind of imbalance record for police response versus incident severity. Eventaully, Delfino coughed up $20 to placate Rada, but not before the above lovely cellcam shots were taken of the affair. Thumbs up!

The UK Sun brings word of a recent altercation:

Attention Carter boys, this is how it's done. Last week, marginally legendary drag queen Flotilla DeBarge got involved in a scrap with two patrons at the Meatpacking District's Apt., which is desperately referred to as "a West Village club" in said article. Witnesses claim DeBarge didn't start the fight, but she finished it with interest, trouncing the offending seat-grabbing man and his date with her high-heeled shoes. DeBarge — perhaps most widely known for impersonating Star Jones on an anti-fur PETA calendar — reportedly spent the week at Rikers, but may have been released on bail by Friday. She joins Suzetta as another vintage-era Meatpacking habitu now finding the neighborhood less than commodious. Join Mickey Rourke in boycotting!

You may remember the unfortunate San Diego TV reporter, John Mattes, who was physically attacked on camera by a married couple Mattes was investigating about their alleged identity theft/real estate scam. Apparently, Assad "Sam" Suleiman and wife Rosa Barraza contend that Mattes must have somehow injured himself — perhaps by smashing his ribs into Suleiman's fist until they cracked, or walloping his own face a few times (we won't even mention the biting). Facing lengthy prison sentences if convicted in the assault, both Suleiman and Barraza have pled not guilty, with their attorney claiming that Suleiman was just acting to defend his wife, and "the footage released to the general media does not fully capture the intensity of the confrontation." Watch that clip again, and try to imagine that it was actually, somehow, more intense.