Rapper The Game has reportedly been charged with criminal battery for allegedly punching his cousin during a family funeral.

Robert 'Kirky' Kirkwood filed a police report in July accusing the star of punching him at his sister's funeral in California earlier that month - in a dispute over money.

Kirkwood claims The Game - real name Jayceon Taylor - offered to pay for the funeral, but a dispute over the cost led to a fight outside the church, where the service was being held.

Speaking shortly after the incident, the rapper admitted he felt like his family were using emotional blackmail to get him to pay for all of the funeral expenses.

And now the Hawthorne City Attorney, in Hawthorne, California, has officially charged the rapper with criminal battery, according to TMZ.com.

Taylor is already on parole for a previous firearms offence - which landed him in jail earlier this year - and if convicted on this new charge a judge could send him back to prison.