EXCLUSIVE: Russell Crowe Forced to Flee Fight Between His Team and Fans

Hollywood megastar Russell Crowe might play a tough guy in most of his films, but that didn’t stop the Gladiator star from running away when a fight broke out between his team and a group of rabid fans.

Crowe, 60, was caught on camera arguing with dozens of followers who came out to see the movie star’s band, The Gentlemen Barbers, play a show at the dingy Shepherd’s Bush Empire in crime-riddled West London before chaos erupted.

An onlooker exclusively told Knewz.com : “It was absolute carnage.”

Photos and video footage of the chaotic scene obtained exclusively by this website show an exhausted Crowe with a cigarette in hand walking over to sign autographs for a bunch of his diehard devotees.

The Cinderella Man actor is then seen shouting at the angry mob before a member of his team – believed to be his tour promoter – clashes with the group and steals one man’s cell phone.

Our source said: “It was the guy we think was the tour promoter who got the biggest beating – and it was a horrific beating.”

“He and Russell came out after Russell’s gig and there was a mob of fans and they were obviously in no mood to deal with them. Russell just brushed them off, but the tour promoter grabbed one guy’s phone who was filming them and that’s when it kicked off.”

“He got chased down by the phone owner and a few other fans, then got a real kicking when he tumbled on the ground.”

The onlooker also revealed the police were called to the scene, saying: “Russell had to flee, and cops were called – there was absolutely no need for it and the whole thing was mayhem.”

Our clip begins in the middle of the mayhem on Wednesday night as dozens of the Oscar-winner’s fans shout “a–hole”, “wanker”, “prick”, and “c—” at the man believed to be Crowe’s organizer.

The man in the baseball cap and green shirt threatens: “Come to me again mate and I’ll f—— break your phone.”

Moments later, he is chased down the sidewalk by at least three men trying to recover the initial person’s stolen cellphone.

While part of the clip is unclear, it appears the men knock the 40-something-year-old man to the ground behind a red telephone booth and beat him.

Our video ends with the man thought to be Crowe’s promoter standing with a cane while recovering from what our insider described as “absolute carnage”.

Crowe – who has a history of violent outbursts and run-ins with the law – was said to be “horrified” by the incident and quickly fled back into the Shepherd’s Bush Empire as the mayhem carried on.

Another onlooker said: “Russell looked absolutely horrified at what was happening and made a quick U-turn back inside the venue. Russell never came back outside again. He must have been pretty embarrassed by the whole thing. It was a proper commotion.”

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police confirmed the cops were phoned to respond to the incident, saying: “Police were called at 00:20hrs on Thursday, 25 July to reports of a fight on Shepherds Bush Green, W12. Officers attended. There were no arrests.”