UB40 swears it has 'nothing to do' with Kavanaugh's alleged bar fight

UB40 would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.

The 1980s pop band told Billboard on Tuesday that it has "nothing to do" with the flurry of stories surrounding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The band was mentioned in a report by The New York Times, which described an alleged bar fight in 1985 that ended with Kavanaugh being questioned by local police. Kavanaugh's college friend said they had been at a UB40 concert before heading to a bar and scuffling with some fellow beer-drinkers.

"Obviously, there must have been an assault because the police were called and a report was filed," a spokesperson for UB40's frontman Robin Campbell told Billboard, "but this is a case of mistaken identity and has nothing to do with UB40." The fight was reportedly initiated after Kavanaugh and his friend stared at a man, wondering whether he was UB40's Campbell.

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Kavanaugh's former classmate, Chad Ludington, said Kavanaugh "threw his beer at" the man in question before the scene broke out into a brawl. "I don't know what Brett was doing in the melee," said Ludington.

Whatever Kavanugh's role in the fight, UB40 would like it to be abundantly clear that "Red Red Wine" was not intended to inspire violence. Read more at Billboard.