Famous R&B Artist of the 1990s Arrested for Battery Following Restaurant Incident

The 1996 worldwide hit “Return of the Mack” star Mark Morrison was arrested over the weekend in Palm Beach, Florida, after reportedly attacking a restaurant manager following a heated argument.

A spectator broke up the fight, separating the two guys and telling Morrison to leave the area.

Mark Morrison was later taken into custody by police on a simple assault allegation.

Mark Morrison, a 1990s R&B singer, is accused of violence in a restaurant incident.

The 50-year-old British R&B artist “stormed into” Le Bar à Vin on Saturday night, shouting and swearing at Nicola Lavacca, the general manager of the business, according to a police record that TMZ was able to get.

According to witnesses, Morrison shoved Lavacca in the upper body to intensify the altercation because he was apparently concerned over an event that was scheduled at the location. Lavacca didn’t strike back.

The victim’s story was verified to police by the restaurant’s entertainment manager, Fabrizio Riillo, who said that Mark Morrison had entered the establishment “in an irate manner,” engaged the victim in conversation, and then shoved him twice.

After being arrested for battery, a restaurant employee claims that Morrison “came back looking for a fight.”

According to Riillo, he intervened to keep the two apart before requesting that Morrison vacate the property. Additionally, he informed authorities that Morrison, who owns a Palm Beach Gardens property, was never personally contacted or accosted by the victim.

According to Riillo, who spoke to the Daily News, the altercation started when Morrison brought a singer to the restaurant the night before and kept telling the artist’s staff to turn up the sound.

Riillo claims that when the music got too loud, Morrison was told by the general manager of the venue that he lacked the right to ask for a louder volume.

“Mark Morrison came back on Saturday night looking for a fight,” Riillo claimed.

Pictured Outside a Florida Restaurant, ‘Return Of The Mack’ Singer Mark Morrison is Handcuffed

The musician, wearing a black shirt, shorts, and yellow shoes, is shown in a TMZ shot outside the restaurant in handcuffs.

Morrison posted a $1,000 bond and was freed Sunday morning. According to court documents, he will be arraigned at the Palm Beach County Courthouse in West Palm Beach on April 15.

Morrison’s representatives have refrained from making any public remarks regarding the incident.

Years of legal turmoil have overshadowed the legacy of “Return Of The Mack” singer Mark Morrison.

“Return of the Mack,” which peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 the following year and topped the UK charts in 1996, was Morrison’s breakthrough single. The song achieved double platinum certification in the UK and platinum status in the US, making it one of the seminal R&B anthems of the 1990s. The song was placed No. 318 on Billboard’s list of the 500 Greatest Pop Songs of All Time in 2023.

It was the lead single from Morrison’s first album of the same name, which combined hip-hop soul, R&B, and a little funk in a way that was both new and old. A sample from Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love,” the same groove that drove Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy,” served as the foundation for its catchy beat.

Despite his fame as a musician, Morrison’s legal issues have frequently overshadowed his profession.

He was sentenced to three months in prison in 1997 after being found guilty of trying to bring a gun on an aircraft.

Mark Morrison was imprisoned for using a lookalike to fake community service.

After being found guilty of affray in connection with a deadly fight, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison just a year later for sending a lookalike to finish his community service.

Over the years, he has also been charged with numerous other offenses, such as a 2002 charge of kidnapping and theft (for which a warrant was issued after he did not show up for court) and an arrest in 2004 related to a fight in a Leicester nightclub.

Morrison allegedly converted to Islam while incarcerated and tried to alter his name to Abdul Rahman. In order to reduce youth violence, he later went back to music and started his own musical company, MackLife. It was via this label that he established the Drop the Knife, Pick up the Mic campaign.

Morrison now resides in Florida and is said to own two multimillion-dollar properties. His recent legal issues are just one of many contentious headlines that have followed him since he first gained notoriety some thirty years ago.