Reporter says Richards assaulted him

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Aftonbladet reporter Markus Larsson says rocker Keith Richards assaulted him three years after he wrote a bad review of a Rolling Stones concert in Sweden.

Larsson said the altercation happened when he met the 66-year-old musician Tuesday in Paris to discuss his upcoming autobiography "Life."

The journalist told The Local the interview went well until Richards realized Larsson was the one who wrote an unfavorable review of his band's concert at Gothenburg's Ullevi Stadium in August 2007. Richards then hit him in the head before storming out of the room, Larsson said.

"His eyes glazed over and he became utterly furious. He rose up and asked if we should turn the lights off and have it out," The Local quoted the music critic as saying.

A representative for Norstedts, the Swedish publisher of Richards' book, declined to comment on the matter, the report said.

"It was between them in a closed room," publicist Fanny Birath said.