Jessica Simpson at the center of a nightclub fracas

Jessica Simpson is at the center of a nightclub fracas after bodyguards
attacked a photographer for trying to snap the star.

John Roca, a photographer for the Daily News, was invited by a club promoter to take shots of Simpson, 25, as she lounged on a divan outside a cabana about 2 a.m. Sunday at the Pink Elephant on Long Island, the newspaper said.

A publicist had told Roca that Simpson and Star Jones were both celebrating their independence -- Simpson from Nick Lachey and Jones from The View.

The four burly men forcibly snatched the New York Daily News snapper's
digital memory card during a tussle.

Onlookers claim the photographer screamed: "I'm a Daily News photographer,
I'm not paparazzi. Leave me alone."

Roca said: "As she turned around, I hit her with a volley of flashes. Before
you could say Madonna four guys pounced on me."
"I'm shocked. These guys jumped on me like chicken on a June bug."

Simpson's protectors grabbed Roca's camera - but not before he managed to pop out the memory card and stuff it in his pants pocket, he said. When one plunged his meaty fist into Roca's Brooks Brothers duds to retrieve the card, he tore the seam of his pants, the photographer said.

Simpson spokesman Rob Shuter said, "This had nothing to do with Jessica's security. It was club security that acted on its own."

But Pink Elephant sources insisted the zealous security detail was Simpson's. "All the bodyguards coming on heavy were employees of Jessica, not the club," the source said.

The club's owner, David Sarner, has also released a statement in support of
his celebrity clientele.
He said: "It is club policy to have no outside photographers inside the Pink
Elephant. Jessica was not even aware of the incident."

"Scrubs" actor Zach Braff as well as models Angie Everhart, Adriana Lima and Ana Beatriz Barrios also were there, witnesses said.

"It is an unfortunate incident, but we don't have the memory card. We're trying to help John recover it," a club spokesman said.
Roca has filed a report with local police.

According to Sfgate.com Jessica Simpson's bodyguards are facing police action over the man-handling incident.

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