Four men who had been visiting MTV’s beach house in the Hamptons were arrested during a melee at a nearby club.
The men had been recruited by MTV at a nearby mall to be in the audience for the its “Direct Effect” hip-hop countdown show, and were among a group bused to the network’s beach house in East Quogue, police said.
A group of the recruits left the beach house and went to the nearby Summers Beach Club, where police said they became “aggressive and confrontational” with staff and other patrons.
Police said two people were hurt in the Tuesday afternoon brawl. One was taken to a nearby hospital, and investigators were searching for the second.
Kareem Sharpe, 19, one of those arrested, said he was heading back to the MTV bus when he saw someone hit on the head with a bottle and kicked. He said he then got into a confrontation with an off-duty police officer trying to break up the melee.
Sharpe was charged with assault and interfering with another arrest and was released on $250 bail after his arraignment Wednesday.
David Callender, 24, was charged with second-degree assault and stealing from a tip jar. He was released on $250 bail. Pandelis Theodosiou, 21, was charged with taking a bottle of rum from the bar and threatening the club owner, and released on $6,000 bail. Greg Romine, 22, charged with interfering with an arrest and given a desk appearance ticket.
MTV said in a statement that none of its employees were involved in the brawling and that it was cooperating with the police investigation.