Rick Rubin has been hit with $1,000 fine after breaking Hawaii’s Covid-19 quarantine rules

Producer Rick Rubin has been hit with a $1,000 (£724) fine after breaking Hawaii’s Covid-19 quarantine rules.

Local newspaper The Garden Island claims Rubin has already paid the fine after making an online appearance in court on February 9. He reportedly opted out of making a statement on his own behalf.

Rules in Hawaii state that off-island visitors must quarantine for two weeks upon entering, but Rubin was spotted before his quarantine ended walking along the deserted Anini Beach near his lodging location in Princeville on the island of Kauai in September. He was alone except for a member of the paparazzi.

It’s reported that a passerby then took a video on their phone and reported Rubin to the authorities.

The producer’s lawyer Craig De Costa said that his client’s charge of disorderly conduct was reduced to a non-criminal violation. Online records reflect the amendment and also show that Rubin pled no contest, according to Pitchfork.

De Costa reportedly told the judge that Rubin was confused about the island’s rules and that he “had no intention of coming into contact with anyone on the beach (in front of his home).”

Officials in Hawaii stated back in April 2020 that rule-breaks of this kind were punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 (£3,619) or jail time.

Among a host of projects last year, Rubin produced The Strokes‘ new album ‘The New Abnormal’. Reviewing the record, NME wrote: “This is a cool album, the kind you begrudgingly grow to love, even if it never cared about you. And isn’t that quintessentially The Strokes?”