Kanye West

Kanye West has finally caught a break. Criminal charges against the rapper from his run-in with the paparazzi at Los Angeles International Airport last year were dimissed on Friday (Oct. 23).

A Los Angeles judge has dropped all misdemeanors against West after he and his road manager Don Crowley agreed to perform 50 hours of community service each. West plans to volunteer with the American Red Cross.

The vandalism and battery charges stem from a scuffle with the paparazzi at LAX on September 11, 2008, where West and his manager broke a TMZ photographer’s camera before boarding a flight to Honolulu. West paid for the damaged camera. While the judge dismissed the charges, he did not excuse his behavior.

The rapper’s lawyer, Blair Berk, who appeared in court on her client’s behalf, said that West attended 12 one-hour sessions of anger management counseling after the incident.

“I’m very pleased that the court granted a dismissal of all the charges,” Berk said following the hearing.