Tommy Hilfiger explains Axl Rose brawl

Tommy Hilfiger has insisted that he was acting in self-defence when he punched Axl Rose.

In 2006, the fashion designer was thrown out of a nightclub in New York after brawling with Rose.

However, the New York Post reports that Hilfiger has now insisted that he has a good relationship with the Guns N' Roses star.

Speaking at the French Institute Alliance Francaise's Fashion Talks series, he explained: "Axl pushed me, and I said, 'That was rude'.

"[He] had a huge ring on. He wears all this jewellery. [I'm thinking], 'If I get hit, it's over. No teeth, no eye'. So I hit him before he hit me."

Hilfiger added: "It was self-protection. Now we're friends."