Louis Tomlinson was arrested at LAX Airport in Los Angeles on March 4 after a scuffle with the paparazzi.
The altercation went down while the singer and on-again love Eleanor Calder were collecting their luggage from baggage claim following a trip to Las Vegas.
In video obtained by Radar Online, Louis can be seen racing to Eleanor's defense as a photographer runs to cut her off and begins snapping close-range shots as she covers her face with her hands.
"Seriously now," Louis can be heard saying as he makes a grab for the camera, blocking the photographer from a retreating Elanor.
The two men then appear to trip over each other and fall to the ground. That's when Louis notices that a scuffle had also broken out between his girlfriend and another woman, who has been identified as a photographer in some reports.
The video shows the two women engaged in a physical altercation against a wall, though it's unclear who was responsible for the initial attack.
Louis then rushes to break up the fight, pulling the other woman off of Eleanor — whom he explicitly calls his "girlfriend" — and onto the ground.
The other woman comes up swinging as bystanders attempt to separate her from Louis, who even loses his sweater during the fray. The singer and his girlfriend then make a hasty exit as airport personnel hold back the other woman and her two female companions.
Ultimately, Louis was placed under misdemeanor citizen's arrest and taken into police custody. The police reportedly detained him for an hour until around 1 AM but released him when he posted a $20,000 bond.
According to E! News, one of the photogs has claimed that he was injured during the dustup.
A lawyer for the One Direction singer has placed the blame on the photographer, who has yet to comment on the incident.
"The paparazzi provoked and caused the altercation that occurred with Louis," his lawyer, Martin Singer, said in a statement. "While the altercation was going on with the paparazzi, three other individuals were attacking his girlfriend during this incident and he came to her defense."
The boy bander will appear in court later this month.
Louis and Eleanor (pictured), who were an item for four years but split in 2015, recently rekindled their romance after he and actress Danielle Campbell parted ways in early 2017. He also shares a son, Freddie, with stylist Briana Jungwirth.