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It turns out that Dark Knight star Christian Bale has been charged by London police only with "verbal assault" in last Sunday night's incident between himself, his mother Jenny and his sister Sharon. In London verbal assault can be classified as a Class 4 or 5, with Class 4 being aggravated with "an intent to cause alarm."
In other words, Bale was popped for the domestic American custom known as "arguing," possibly with a loud and/or threatening tone of voice. By this curious standard Jeremy Piven's "Ari" character would be doing 10 years without parole, easy, if he lived in London.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 22, 2008 at 3:37 PM
comment #1
BlueRaymondBabbit says ...
What's the charge for familial leeching? I detect a Class 2 offence.
Posted by BlueRaymondBabbit at July 22, 2008 3:59 PM
comment #2
115thDreamer says ...
The Brits are still doing the whole "civilized behavior" thing - how quaint. I guess if he was pissed, he was just supposed to say, in a normal tone, "I respectfully disagree with your position, and I must ask you to leave at this time....thank you". Man, God help Russell Crowe if he ever gets riled up in England - he could end up getting hanged.
Posted by 115thDreamer at July 22, 2008 4:04 PM
comment #3
nemo says ...
Christ, if Class 4 is "an intent to cause alarm," what on earth is Class 5? Frowning with an intent to defend oneself verbally? Turning down a request for money with a note of irritation in your voice?
How trivial can you get. This ain't nowhere near Amy Winehouse territory. Can you get charged in England if you say no to a panhandler in a cross tone of voice?
Posted by nemo at July 22, 2008 4:14 PM
comment #4
dixiedugan says ...
Christ almighty, thank the higher powers I don't live in England. My teenager and I are into some heavy ass verbal assaults. We'd get arrested and charged on a daily basis.
Something is rotten in Denmark here. I've heard the same as everybody else, that he's one of those 'in character' types, wound up like a ten day clock. But I've never heard of him having any major altercations. Sounds like ma and sis had their hands out and got shown the door.
Posted by dixiedugan at July 22, 2008 4:19 PM
comment #5
rockne says ...
So was Britain the model for the San Angeles of Demolition Man?
"You have been fined twenty credits for violation of the verbal morality code"
F*** you!
Posted by rockne at July 22, 2008 4:19 PM
comment #6
Tofu says ...
Bale was released on orders to return in September, sources to news agencies agree that it was over nothing, Bale himself stated it was a false charge, he has no history of this in his twenty year career, and his family IS estranged (have been since he was 13).
He's in the clear, and this has simply been embarrassing for all parties involved.
Posted by Tofu at July 22, 2008 4:20 PM
comment #7
theprisoner6 says ...
Take this for what it's worth, saw it over in the comments section of justjared.com:
“His mom and sister are alcoholics and drug addicts, they showed up at his hotel uninvited and highly intoxicated. they were calling him big shot and that he needs to take care of his own. His mom was yelling that he would be nothing without her and he owed her. His sister was begging for money and when he was pushing her toward the door his mother came from behind and started hitting him on his head and kicking him. He managed to push them both out the door and his mom fell, they called the police and wanted him arrested. I believe that Chirstian is the victim here not his mom or sister
My father works security at the hotel, and he said it was a mess. His mom and sister wanted the front desk worker to let them into his room to wait for him. When they were told no they started cussing and yelling. they sat in front of his door for an hour until he finally arrived.”
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/07/22/christian-bale-dark-knight-uk/all-comments/#comments
Posted by theprisoner6 at July 22, 2008 4:27 PM
comment #8
Ozwitch says ...
Jeez, A Clockwork Orange is looking more and more relevant now than it was back then.
Posted by Ozwitch at July 22, 2008 4:46 PM
comment #9
Bingo says ...
This is the most comprehensive report on what may have happened:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1037313/EXCLUSIVE-Arrested-Batman-star-deeply-depressed-Ledgers-death-personal-stress.html
Posted by Bingo at July 22, 2008 5:09 PM
comment #10
iamjoe says ...
I feel incredibly embarassed for Bale.
Family is always crazy and insane to anyone on the outside of it, period. That something like this, a "Class 4" that I'm sure every single one of us is guilty of and I know I am, gets world wide coverage is sad. It reinforces the good good policy Bale makes by only talking about his work to the press.
Posted by iamjoe at July 22, 2008 5:17 PM
comment #11
corey3rd says ...
Harvey Weinstein would be a dead man in London
Posted by corey3rd at July 22, 2008 5:22 PM
comment #12
EOTW says ...
Tis a shame, guv.
Posted by EOTW at July 22, 2008 6:01 PM
comment #13
Gaydos says ...
Just saw the extremely funny "Stepbrothers" last night and this sure works as material for the sequel.
Posted by Gaydos at July 22, 2008 7:16 PM
comment #14
Adonis says ...
From Bingo's Link:
"'This is a guy who puts enormous pressure on himself without ever really asking for much of a support system. He's almost like a piano soloist in that way, and it's no wonder he just explodes sometime."
That seems to fit what we know of Bale. That said, I think an average person would not have involved the authorities.
Posted by Adonis at July 22, 2008 7:53 PM
comment #15
Jeffrey Kunze says ...
It's all 'bout stoking the Dark Knight bonfire. How high can the flames rise.
I'm listening to the Hans Zimmer / John score right now. Half part thrilling and great / half part boring.
So far, I would approve of it deserving a best original score award though.
Posted by Jeffrey Kunze at July 22, 2008 9:38 PM
comment #16
BurmaShave says ...
Let's not minimize verbal abuse, while still acknowledging that these laws are absurd. I just don't understand this story at all.
Posted by BurmaShave at July 22, 2008 11:24 PM
comment #17
Terry McCarty says ...
115th Dreamer wrote:
The Brits are still doing the whole "civilized behavior" thing - how quaint. I guess if he was pissed, he was just supposed to say, in a normal tone, "I respectfully disagree with your position, and I must ask you to leave at this time....thank you". Man, God help Russell Crowe if he ever gets riled up in England - he could end up getting hanged.
If you hang around certain cliques of poets/writers in L.A. or OC, any kind of public arguing or raised voices is greeted with even more disapproval than the UK--except "jail time" amounts to being banned from readings and/or ostracized.
Posted by Terry McCarty at July 23, 2008 12:57 AM
comment #18
GKLondon says ...
Fuck all of this, his mother and sister sound like a grade A pair a C@*nts.
Shit, does that mean they can have me arrested?
Posted by GKLondon at July 23, 2008 1:32 AM
comment #19
AndrewOwens says ...
Yeah, we're still doing the "civilized behavior" thing, You guys still doing the "handguns for everyone" thing?
Also, health care!
Posted by AndrewOwens at July 23, 2008 5:36 AM
comment #20
GonePostal says ...
The nation that spawned Winston Churchill, the greatest speaker of modern times, and a loud man prone to drinking A LOT now can ARREST you for shouting? I love England, but damn, that's one terrible law. Churchill would have been arrested every other night.
Posted by GonePostal at July 23, 2008 6:58 AM
comment #21
diesel says ...
"You guys still doing the "handguns for everyone" thing?"
haha, burn! really can't believe some of the comments here on u.k. policy on violence. like they say, inward-looking never has been an american trait.
Posted by diesel at July 23, 2008 1:43 PM
comment #22
Pruecdcraffie says ...
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Posted by Pruecdcraffie at July 28, 2008 2:17 AM
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