In early July of 2006, Woody Harrelson grabbed a paparazzo by the neck and br when the guy wouldn’t stop taking photos of him out with a group of women. Most of the exchange was caught on videotape and posted to TMZ shortly afterwards. There were visible scratches and broken skin on the back of the photographer’s neck.
The photographer filed a criminal complaint at the police station, and the LAPD said they were investigating the incident but not much more was heard about it.
Right before the two year statute of limitations runs out, the photographer is predictably suing Harrelson. Along with claiming that 46 year-old actor choked him and broke his camera, he also says Harrelson ordered his bodyguard to attack him. The photographer wants a whopping $2.5 million:
Woody Harrelson has been sued for $2.5 million by a paparazzo who accused the actor of assaulting him and breaking his video camera two years ago.
According to a lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Josh Levine was filming Harrelson in Hollywood late one night in June 2006. He alleges the Academy Award-nominated actor choked him, broke his video camera and ordered his bodyguard to attack him.
Levine’s suit says he still has mental, physical and emotional pain from the encounter. He is also suing the unidentified bodyguard.
Harrelson’s publicist could not immediately be reached for comment.
[The Associated Press via Huffington Post]
It seemed pretty obvious to me at the time I assumed at the time based on his aggressive behavior that Woody was cheating on his wife, who had just given birth to their third daughter a month before. Why would he get so upset at being photographed unless he was up to something? (Update: as many of you mentioned, I made the assumption that Woody was cheating based on the way he objected to being photographed. There was little basis for this and I should have phrased it better.)
The photographer definitely deserves compensation for his injuries and broken equipment, but $2.5 million? I see this being settled out of court for five figures, and that’s probably what the victim is hoping for too. It’s not like a jury is going to be incredibly sympathetic toward a paparazzi photographer, even if Harrelson was clearly in the wrong.
Woody Harrelson is shown at the Semi-Pro premiere on 2/19/08, thanks to PRPhotos.
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