Rap star Kanye West was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday after scuffling with photographers and smashing a camera, an airport spokesman said.

West’s bodyguard also was taken into custody after he grabbed a television camera and threw it to the ground, said celebrity Web site TMZ.com, whose cameraman was involved.

Los Angeles airport spokesman Alberto Rodriguez said West, 31, and his bodyguard were booked on suspicion of felony vandalism. The bodyguard also faces a possible charge of battery.

They were released on bail. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to press charges.

“We will wait for the police to complete their investigation,” said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.

Rodriguez said the two were arrested on Thursday morning outside the passenger security screening area.

TMZ, which caught much of the incident on camera, said West rushed toward a photographer and grabbed his camera. A struggle followed and West took the camera and threw it to the ground.

His bodyguard then ordered the TMZ cameraman to stop taping and to hand over his camera.

“The assistant then grabbed the camera, ripped off the mic and viewfinder and smashed it to the ground,” TMZ said.

50 Cent has more than 1 million friends on MySpace, but if the rapper ever decides to leave the social network, he’ll be leaving behind those friends, too. So like a growing number of artists, he’s started his own social networking site.

On Thisis50.com, fans can create profiles and friend lists just like on MySpace, but 50 Cent has direct access to the site’s users and their e-mail addresses.

More and more acts, from Kylie Minogue to Ludacris to the Pussycat Dolls, are launching their own social networks, which are becoming a sort of next-generation version of artist Web sites.

The social networking component gives fans a reason to hang out on a site and visit more often than they would a standard Web site. And artists can sell advertisements on their sites and offer downloads and merchandise for sale — options they don’t have on MySpace or Facebook. Plus, they own the content and data on how fans use their site, which they don’t get on other social networks.

“The thing that separates Thisis50 from MySpace is we control the e-mail database,” says Chris “Broadway” Romero, director for new media at G-Unit Records, which handles Thisis50. “We can e-mail members if we want to.”

Thisis50 isn’t meant to be a fan club, but rather a platform for 50 Cent to showcase his music and music he likes, and comment on news and user profile pages. Ludacris’ WeMix.com, on the other hand, is more of a hub for aspiring artists to upload their music.

The artist networks aren’t meant to replace MySpace or Facebook, which tend to attract a broader audience and more users.

“(Artists) think about MySpace and Facebook as funnels for their own social networks,” says Gina Bianchini, CEO of Ning, a company that provides social networking tools for Thisis50, Sara Bareilles and others. “They take and use services where they don’t know the users, don’t have access and don’t have full control, and funnel those fans to something they do control.