Weeks after being accused by his sister and 61-year-old mother, a former circus clown, of roughing them up in a London hotel on the eve of the “Dark Knight“‘s European premiere, British police are reporting that Christian Bale will not be charged with any crime. This is after police had originally “delayed questioning Bale for a day to avoid disrupting the opening of the box-office blockbuster,” explaining that “it would have been wrong to wreck the premiere over a complaint which we do not yet know is founded in truth.”
According to reports, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service “ordered police not to take any further action, saying there was insufficient evidence to make a conviction realistic”—making sure to add, however, that the Service “treats domestic incidents seriously.”
Confusion still remains as to what sort of “domestic incident” British prosecutors would consider worthy of such “serious” treatment, but at least we can all now rest safe in the knowledge that beating up your sister and an old circus clown in your hotel room won’t net you much more in the UK than a pat on the back and some autograph requests from a couple of Bobbies. Cheers! [HuffPo]
Media everywhere are reporting that Christian Bale, recently accused by his sister and his 61-year-old mom, a former circus clown, of roughing them up in a London hotel on the eve of the “Dark Knight“‘s European premiere, is now officially denying the accusations.
Legal commentators worldwide understand why Bale would issue a fervent denial of the charges, but they have delicately pointed out that, typically, mothers don’t lie to police about getting beat up by one of their kids. Especially when the mother is in town to support the kid’s big movie premiere. And is 61 years old. And is a clown.
That said, pundits have noted that Bale may just be following the lead of the so-British-it-hurts Bobbies running the case, who “delayed questioning Bale for a day to avoid disrupting the opening of the box-office blockbuster,” according to police sources. “It would have been wrong to wreck the premiere over a complaint which we do not yet know is founded in truth,” the source said. Really? Isn’t that sort of one of the principal tenets of police work—to investigate complaints to figure out if they’re founded in truth? Before someone gets, you know, killed? Regardless of whether or not the alleged perpetrator happens to be playing the new Batman?
Sources close to the case have noted, however, one small silver lining for Bale in all this: The Heath-Ledger-is-getting-more-publicity-for-this-movie-than-I-am problem is no longer on the table. [NY Post]
Concerned that the deluge of press praising co-star Heath Ledger’s performance in the record-breaking mega-hit “The Dark Night” was overshadowing his own role in the film, Christian Bale took it upon himself to prove to the world that he can play a deranged criminal just as convincingly as Ledger. Against the advice of his agent and publicist, Bale allegedly assaulted his mother and sister early last week in a swank London hotel the night before the European premiere of the film.
The British media are reporting that Bale, 34, was arrested this morning for the assault, and a spokesman for the London police has confirmed that “A 34-year-old man attended a central London police station this morning by appointment and was arrested in connection with an allegation of assault.” Investigators have not yet confirmed what, specifically, provoked the assault, but sources close to the case have gone out on a limb and suggested that an actor who convincingly portrayed an American Psycho, willingly dropped to 125 pounds for an indie film no one saw, and almost got his face chopped off by a helicopter during a stunt for his latest flick—and has yet to land any major award noms—might, just might have some unresolved aggression issues at play. [HuffPost]
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