Nick Lachey Accused of Choking Fan at Football Game - East Idaho News
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Nick Lachey Accused of Choking Fan at Football Game

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GETTY E 12512 NickLAchey?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1354705022173Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — 98 Degrees member and TV personality Nick Lachey has been accused of assaulting a fan at a football game in San Diego on Sunday.

The unnamed fan tells TMZ.com he was heckled by Lachey at the San Diego Chargers’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Lachey’s hometown team.

The fan claims Lachey and his friends ridiculed him for a replica jersey he was wearing that bore the name of an old Chargers player.  The fan says Lachey made an offensive remark about the player — the nature of the comment is not specified in the report — after which the fan’s wife told Lachey, “Well, he lasted longer than your boy band.”

According to the fan, Lachey then called the wife a “f***ing b****” and grabbed him by the throat and shoved him to the ground.  TMZ has posted shaky video footage of the altercation.

Lachey and his friends were subsequently forced by security to leave the stadium.  The website reports the fan plans to file a police report over the incident.

Lachey’s rep said in a statement Tuesday, “This was a verbal exchange between sports fans of opposing teams that went too far.  While Nick isn’t proud of what happened, he did not choke anyone or use defamatory language to any women at the stadium — which the videotape clearly supports.  Nick and his friends were interviewed by police outside the stadium and quickly released with no charges filed.  We categorically deny any accusations that say otherwise and would defend against those claims should they arise.”          

Aside from his singing career, Lachey has hosted NBC’s The Sing-Off and has been tapped to emcee the network’s upcoming music competition The Winner Is.

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