Apparently, Tommy Hilfiger has no patience for Axl Rose.
The famed fashion designer and the Guns N' Roses ringleader reportedly got into fisticuffs Thursday night in New York City at a 27th birthday party for actress Rosario Dawson.
And by all accounts, it was--for once--not Rose, but rather Hilfiger of all people, doing the instigating.
According to the New York Post, the clothing maven went ballistic after Rose moved his girlfriend, Dee Ocieppo's drink at a VIP table at The Plumm nightclub in the posh Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea. Hilfiger allegdly attacked the flame-haired rocker without warning, pummeling him several times and landing a punch just below his eye.
"First [Axl and Tommy] were sitting. Then they were pulling on each other...it got so out of control," one shocked eyewitness told the Post.
The dust-up reportedly took many in the packed club by surprise, including fellow celebs Lenny Kravitz, Kid Rock and Mickey Rourke, who were close to the action.
"A bunch of security ran over, but Tommy would not back down. He was just out to take him down," the witness added. "Kid Rock got trampled by people running over. It was unbelievable."
Hilfiger's personal bodyguard was finally able to pull him off Rose, but not before the 55-year-old sportswear mogul tried to give the musician another makeover, reportedly scoring a blow to his cheek.
Appetite for destruction indeed.
For his part, the 44-year-old Rose later said he was baffled as to why Hilfiger was out to get him.
"I moved his girlfriend's drink so it wouldn't spill," the "Sweet Child O' Mine" singer told Los Angeles radio station KROQ on Friday. "It was the most surreal thing, I think, that's ever happened to me in my life."
Rose added that the Tommy Incident got started when Hilfiger struck him in the arm and ordered him to put the drink back.
"I said, 'I don't want it to spill.' And he said, 'It's not going to spill.' And I said, 'Well, I don't want to sit on it.' And he said, 'You're not going to blanking sit on it,"' the Gunner said. "He just kept smacking me."
Rose, the lone original member still playing in the G N' R lineup, eventually went on to perform a surprise acoustic set for Dawson's b-day and dedicated the song "You're Crazy" to "my good friend Tommy Hilfiger."
No charges were filed and reps for Hilfiger had no comment.
The Plumm's owner, Noel Ashman, told the Associated Press that Axl was a model of "restraint" and both men were welcomed back to the club anytime.
After wrapping up four hugely successful shows at the Big Apple's Hammerstein Ballroom, Rose and his new Guns N' Roses crew will now head to Europe for several festival dates in June as well as open for the Rolling Stones in Nuremburg and Leipzig, Germany, July 10 and 12.
And in an interview on Eddie Trunk's syndicated radio program on New York City's WAXQ-FM earlier this month, Rose also confirmed that the band's near mythical album, Chinese Democracy, will finally hit stores sometime this fall.
