An African street merchant says he learned the rough and tumble ways of show business firsthand when security guards for the set of NBC’s musical drama “Smash” allegedly beat him up, according to his lawsuit.
Licensed vendor Modou Niang says the since-canceled TV series was filming on Sixth Avenue between 45th and 46th streets on Feb. 15, 2013 where he hawks tchotchkes including photographs.
Niang claims a group of apparent security guards, some wearing badges and carrying film equipment, confronted him and asked if he was from Africa.
The Senegalese man answered yes and the guards, who he described as black, “hurled racial slurs at him calling him ‘n—-r’ and ‘m—-r f—-r’ several times,” according to his Manhattan Supreme Court case.
The vendor says one of the guards then snatched his merchandise.
Niang, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 175 pounds, asked for the framed photo back. The guard responded by throwing an elbow at the vendor, launching him to the ground, the suit claims.
The merchant broke his wrist and called 911 before being transported to the hospital.
Niang says most of the guards fled but his attacker stayed and talked to a cop who did not make a report of the incident, according to the suit.
Niang wants unspecified money damages.
Reps for NBC did not immediately return calls for comment.
“Smash,” a Broadway-insider show about a group of Great White Way hopefuls, ended its two-season run last spring.