According to observers, Woody Harrelson attacked a persistent admirer at the notorious Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, after the man took unapproved photos of the Cheers star and declined to erase them.
At around 11 p.m., the actor struck the man, who has not been recognized, while out with his daughter at the hotel’s fancy rooftop bar, Top of the Gate. After fleeing the scene of the confrontation, the man was questioned in his hotel room by investigators that night, and he will face charges, according to police. Harrelson, on the other hand, was not charged in the event because he acted ‘in self-defense,’ according to investigators.
The man, who police believe was inebriated and has yet to be identified, lunged at Harrelson after the actor confronted him and requested him to delete a flood of images he had taken of him and his daughter, as per the police.
After the incident, Harrelson ‘approached the individual and demanded that he erase the images,’ according to Dustin Sternbeck, director of communications for the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, in a statement. According to a public incident record, Harrelson then ‘engaged into a verbal altercation with’ the man, who reportedly ‘lunged forward’ the actor to try to seize his neck.
According to eyewitness testimonies and the police report, he then hit the victim in the face before he could strike back.
The man then made his way back to his hotel room, away from the star. Harrelson told police that he punched the man in self-defense when they arrived on the scene shortly after, and numerous witnesses apparently backed his version, according to the report.
Police questioned Harrelson, but he was not charged with anything. Officers determined that the actor was actually acting in self-defense, according to the incident report filed following the late-night argument.
