Christian Bale was arrested and brought in for questioning by London police today after his mother and sister reported that he assaulted them at a London hotel. The incident is alleged to have taken place on Sunday and was not reported to police by Bale’s family members until Monday. The police are said to have waited until after he attended the premiere of his blockbuster hit Batman: The Dark Knight in London last night before arresting him. There are very few details about this case and it’s interesting to say the least:
Batman star Christian Bale was arrested today by detectives investigating claims he assaulted two family members.
The Hollywood actor was being questioned by police at a central London police station, sources said.
Bale, 34, is alleged to have lashed out at his mother and sister in his suite at Park Lane’s Dorchester Hotel on Sunday.
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: ‘A 34-year-old man attended a central London police station this morning by appointment.
‘He was arrested in connection with an allegation of assault. He currently remains in custody.”
Bale was arrested just hours after he attended the first European screening of the new Batman blockbuster, The Dark Knight…
The two women, who live in Dorset, went to a Hampshire police station yesterday to make a formal allegation.
[From The Daily Mail]
Bale is alleged to have assaulted his mother Jenny, 61, and his sister Sharon, 40. According to People, Bale has “not been formally charged” and suspects in England are put under arrest before their questioned. His name has not been released by police, and he is only being described as a “34 year old male.”
Bale has been married for eight years to Sibi Blazic and they live in LA with their three year old daughter, Emmeline. He has three older sisters and grew up in South Wales. His father was a businessman who was re-married to Gloria Steinem at the time of his death, and his mother is a former circus performer. He has been a vegetarian since the age of six. [Details from Wikipedia]
You don’t hear much about Christian Bale and kind of assume that he’s a family man who focuses on acting. He’s not someone you would think has a temper and I wonder what really happened with his mom and sister. Maybe they have a long standing feud and he lashed out verbally. Hopefully it wasn’t a physical assault.
Christian Bale is shown last night at the UK Premiere of The Dark Knight. Credit: WENN
It’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for.
I knew there was something weird about him…He just seems…too much like his American Psycho character. He has dead eyes, and every time I see him I get a flash image of him in a hotel room slashing up some hooker while listening to MJ’s “Beat It”.
pr nightmare alert
When I read this first, I thought maybe things just got a bit emotional and out of hand with the premiere / Ledger memories etc but for his mother and sis to actually physically go to a police station to make a report (as distinct from the police being called to their hotel because of a disturbance), that suggests something more serious.
Can’t have too healthy a relationship with his mother and sister, that’s for sure.
PR nightmare is right…I smell bulls___ nonetheless…complaint was made but nothing done for 24 hours later, not until his mother and sister pushed for it…sounds like some angry family members to me..
Um… This is wierd. I wish more was known about it. I’ve loved Christian since Little Women & Newsies & don’t want him to be a bad guy
Hmm…is it a coincidence that the mum and sis just happen to report this right at premiere time? Maybe it’s simply my cynical mind, or my love for Christian since way back to Newsies time, but something smells very fishy here…
Let’s all just calm down and eat a piece of fruit or something. Slamming a door on someone can be called assault. Don’t jump to conclusions.
i doubt the police would pick him up for a verbal “lashing out” would they? is that even an arrestable offense in britain? seems weird. he creeps me out in general though, as ive made clear in other posts. something about his mouth.
Perhaps he should have played Two Face instead of Batman………wonder if it’s got anything to do with frustration over Ledger stealing picture……and the kudos 😕
Wait a minute. The asault happened on Sunday, the mother and sis went back to Hampshire and then decided to make a complaint to the Hampshire police who notified the Met. Why not call the police at the point the assault took place on Sunday? Ok, I don’t want him to be at fault here but there can’t be too much love lost between them if this is how his own mother and sister are prepared to deal with whatever it was that happened.
@bros, if an assault is reported, the police HAVE to investigate, regardless of the supposed severity or otherwise of the alleged assault.
I’m sure I read somewhere that he had a history of semi-criminal behaviour before he was in the limelight.
Agree about the eyes. Hearing him interviewed on the red carpet on that evening….there was something not quite right about him
Hmmmm, my spider sense in tingling (I know, wrong movie)that good ‘ol Ma and Sis are full of shit here…I know nothing about this guy, but it just seems like weird timing or too opportunistic, something isn’t right about it.
But then again, I’m a cynical shit. 😈
Oh, say it ain’t so. I’m with Bodhi having loved Christian since childhood…
After my brother died in a car accident a few years ago, I definitely had quite a few emotional outbursts (mostly around holidays and other key times), which i took out on my boyfriend and family, the people closest to me. Those outbursts and the guilt I felt afterwards were what I needed to get my butt to a professional therapist.
Maybe the same is happening with him.
Another article says the police didn’t arrest him because they knew he wouldn’t be a flight risk. So they let him do his little premiere and interviews and all that jazz. I am not going to assume the mother and sister are lying, I am sure these last few weeks have been intense for him and it wouldn’t be shocking if he lashed out, right? I mean, if he is one to lash out like that. Either way, when it comes to abuse, I tend to take the victims side until proven otherwise.
I’m very confused by this story and I’m going to withhold judgement until I hear what actually happened.
Once again who is being believed (the man) and who is not (the women)? How interesting and how deep the misogyny runs….
So good to know that 95% of you in here use you common sense!
Of course this is some kind of a set up! I think his family was whining about money. He didn’t gave it to them. They’ve made this little “plot”. It is so damn OBVIOUS!
Now they’ll have the money. How? They’ll settle it out of court. Remember this.
They don’t want only the $. They want to finish him off.
And if true (I hope it is) it’s simply despicable!
@Queenie:
Misogyny my eye. You can completely dislike Bale but still be able to see that there’s plainly history here between the two parties and the info so far makes the actions of the mother and sister questionable. This is not misogyny, it’s objectivity.
In Bale’s defense, he did tell those bitches not to touch the mini bar.
I agree with Geronimo. I think this should be checked out by police, of course, but you have to admit Queenie, something smelleth fishy.
I question the timing of the complaints.
Don’t judge until you know the whole story. 😕
What is wrong with some of you. Why would his own mother AND sister go as far as to involve the actual police for such serious allegations as assault if something serious did not happen, what for money? I very much doubt it. He must have done something very bad to them to go as far as to involve the police and for them to take action in arresting him for alleged assault.
As for you wtf (and that goes for others as well with the same idea), you sound like a weirdo and completely paranoid.
You know what I find very funny? Now, all of the sudden since there’s this story out, some people are saying that they always thought he was creepy and you could ‘see it in his eyes’ and mouth – yeah, whatever guys. It’s always amusing that people wait until after some rumours or stories spread to say ‘oh, I knew it all along’ – yeah, bite me.
@ Enonymouse – And you sound like someone who’ll do something like this for money.
No wtf, you are confusing me with yourself. 🙄
@ Enonymouse: Um, yeah, for money. Don’t be naive. People sell out their famous family members all the time for cash. Remember, they lived off of him for years — child star. This may explain why he sticks so close to his wife and doesn’t trust people. Let’s just wait and see and not jump to conclusions.
@ ri23: Yup. Exactly. Look at Angelina! She is selling her kids! Pictures. 😉
physical “assault” is battery not assault
Assault is a threat of violence. Battery is the actual touching of another person.
This is complete BS. Loser family.
Poor guy.
Sounds like the mom and sis maybe wanted to divert some attention onto themselves. There are some wierd ones in the world who would think nothing of causing unneeded drama out of jealousy.
I’m not buying the ladies story. Mom WAS a circus performer, she may be a little off.
You people who say that it was due to all the attention given to Heath
Ledger and whatever else that makes him the bad guy… you people assume way too much. For goodness sake, Heath is a goner. Who in his right mind would feel insecure over a guy who is already DEAD!
Christian Bale went though a lot of financial woes about 8 years ago before he got noticed to the point where his house was even bank re-possessed. He and his wife were childless for a number of years. At this high point in his life, I don’t think he would just throw that all away, by making a full of himself. With that said, you people, should just sit back, cool it and don’t judge.
You have your own skeletons in your closet that you need to face up to instead of getting at kick out of other people’s misery.
Del, you don’t know me. I have seriously been saying that about him since I saw American Psycho. I don’t care for him as an actor, he weirds me out.
So you guys are saying the mom and the sis must be blackmailing him and they won’t drop assault charges unless Christian pays them? THAT’S more likely than Christian assaulting them? 🙄 I take the charges at face value (it’s his mom after all) rather than leaping to a conspiracy theory.
@BlueBerryPie – no, “assault” means an attack. Look it up.
this thing with christian bale is extremely weird… I mean assaulting his mother? his sister not that bad, I fight with my brother all the time, but his moama?..it would even more f___d up if they lied, either way it’s a pretty crazy situation
We really need to take a step back here. What is with all this jumping to conclusions? Remember that this is all taking place in England. Now, I’m not at all familiar with English law, so until I hear what the charges are and why these allegations were made in the first place, I’m not saying a word either way.
This is very amusing. Everyone seems to all of a sudden “know” Christian Bale based on his appearance in movies, oh excuse me, and by the look of his mouth or eyes. I say get on with your own life and problems and leave the guys problems to the court system. More will be revealed I am sure, until then I say leave the guy alone. Jeez!!!
He’s now out on bail. No further details available.
That is the cost of fame, sane. If you don’t want to be in the limelight, get out of the spotlight.
“The Hollywood actor was questioned for four hours at a central London police station and later released on bail to a date in September pending further inquiries”
I looked assault up in webster’s and it can mean either a violent attack or unlawful attempt or threat to do harm to another. The classification may be different in england than the usa.
To say that ‘that is the cost of fame’ is absolutley ludicrous. All that the public has a right to is a good performance. So, just because someone loves acting they should be subjected to being stalked by the papparazzi? That makes no sense. What if the new ‘in’ thing became accounting – so then, should an accountant be sujected to stalkers with cameras and just put up with it because it’s their chosen job? No. That sort of talk, saying that actors should have to put up with violations of privacy, is completely unacceptable.
ri23, I am surely not naive but you and some others are completely paranoid. I agree with KateL.
It is always the same story with assault charges, people always turn against the victim(s) then the person who actually done the wrongdoing.
I am not going start commenting on Christian Bale’s persona or behavior or get too personal in this matter because no one really knows what type of person he really is, but what really pisses me off is the surprisingly large number of incredible ignorant and insensitive people who would so quickly dismiss such serious allegation such assault because they have it in their little heads that all this people (women) that go through and put themselves forward as victims must be doing it just for money and maybe 15 minutes of fame. There maybe some very, very few women that do this for other gains but almost all do suffer and have suffered from assault and is already hard for them to come out and admit that they have be abused and threaten without the scrutiny and criticism from the public. On top of that there are actually people who would suggest that a mother would turn on her own child just for some cash, like it happens everyday. He surely does not seem that he comes from a family of rednecks, so I very much doubt it.
I call shenanigans.
I’m as much an admirer of Bale’s acting as anyone – but there are two sides to any story. Those who are reserving judgement are being very wise.
We weren’t there so we don’t know what happened, my guess is he threw something or pushed someone. I honestly can’t see two grown and middle-aged women just randomly toddling off to the police station to report their son and brother unless it was serious. But we have no idea what the chain of events were, if alcohol or drugs were involved or if there was any provocation.
It’s just sad at a time when he’s finally getting decent recognition for his talent. But one thing I will say, he does have a hard time letting go of the character. I just hope whatever happened can be dealt with amicably.
@Enonymouse: I’m not paranoid. Just going by the law. Remember the law — innocent until proven guilty? Just because a female says something doesn’t make it true.
Mairead – “But one thing I will say, he does have a hard time letting go of the character.”
What the hell does that mean ❓
Innocent ’til proven guilty, my little conclusion jumpers.
He was showing them the Batman punch on the Wii… and it got out of hand.
Sorry daisy – i came back to check that.
I thought I had read or heard a comment by a film reviewer who had made a similar comment, but I can’t remember for the life of me remember where. SO just ignore me on that. 😳
Yep. It was just verbal. Just pissed his mom off. I should be in jail for life if that’s a crime.
Celebrities know damn well what they are getting into when they become actors. One part of that, like it or not, is that people are going to want to know more about you. They are going to want to meet you, they are going to shout your name from across the street, and magazines know this. They know people want to see them, so they are going to shoot them. Again, it may not seem fair, it may not seem nice, but this is a part of it, take it or leave it. Football players know they run the risk of injury playing the game, but they still do, knowing full well what could happen. Same with actors, and it pisses me off when you find the few high and mighty who get upset about the attention they get. Its perfectly fine to snap photos when its optimal for their career – after that its piss off. Too bad, it doesn’t work like that.
daisy – I think what Mairead was referring to was Bale’s Method approach to acting. he “becomes” the character he’s playing, right down to adopting the accent and mannerisms. NO kidding – watch American Psycho. Or The Machinist. You’ll know what I mean.
ri23, I am surely not naive but you and some others are completely paranoid. I agree with KateL.
It is always the same story with assault charges, people always turn against the victim(s) then the person who actually done the wrongdoing.
I am not going start commenting on Christian Bale’s persona or behavior or get too personal in this matter because no one really knows what type of person he really is, but what really pisses me off is the surprisingly large number of incredible ignorant and insensitive people who would so quickly dismiss such serious allegation such assault because they have it in their little heads that all this people (women) that go through and put themselves forward as victims must be doing it just for money and maybe 15 minutes of fame. There maybe some very, very few women that do this for other gains but almost all do suffer and have suffered from assault and is already hard for them to come out and admit that they have been abused and threaten without the scrutiny and criticism from the public. On top of that there are actually people who would suggest that a mother would so easily turn on her own child just for some cash, like it happens everyday. He surely does not seem that he comes from a family of rednecks, so I very much doubt it.
This is from Dlisted’s comments, might shed some light (Submitted by miffed_33 on July 22, 2008 – 11:46am.):
Just thought I’d bring this over from JJ’s
edna @ 07/22/2008 at 9:58 am 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
edna @ 07/22/2008 at 10:20 am 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.
@Enonymouse: Nice rambling, but we are talking about Bale. As for your obvious issues, I think the website you’re looking for is oprah.com.
ri23, bite me you ignorant person. Besides haven’t you contributed enough of your nonsense to this thread already.
I just have to say one more thing and then I am on with my own life. Those of you who are judging Christian Bale on the look of his mouth or eyes, or the way he appeared in some movie, well I just hope you never serve on a jury.
Me too sane, I am a horrible person.
@Enonymouse: I shall bite you and then take my “non senses” elsewhere. Good day, sir. I said, good day.
Samantha – So, am I to assume that you condone the way that the paparazzi has free reign to harrass and stalk, not only the actors themselves, but their family? Do you think it’s right that these cameramen/women are above the law when it comes to stalking? That they should be allowed, and even encouraged, to drive around and follow the celebrities, their kids, their doctor’s dogs…everyone connected with them. You think it’s fine for them to camp outside of their house and peep into their windows just to get that shot? It’s not right, and anyone with half of a brain knows that.
And at a very private time like this, regardless of what’s really going on, you think it’s cool for someone’s private life to be splayed all over the news? The media can be very cruel and they don’t deserve it simply because they choose this profession.
ri23, don’t let the door hit you, where the good Lord split you. 😆
Thanks for this, Blunted. I KNOW this can regarded as speculation as much as anything else but it fits, objectively, with the actions of these two women.
Del, there is a difference between taking pictures of them when they are walking down the street rather than them sitting up in their tree on their private property to take pictures. Anything done within the lines of reason (being legally allowed) is fine. I dont know if you saw what happened to Toby Maguire when they were blocking his car and he blew up, that was bs. Because they were breaking the law and laughing about it. Getting arrested/legal trouble is public access, so no, I don’t see anything wrong with them posting a story about him getting into legal trouble. Again, anything within the legal lines of reason is perfectly acceptable.
If this story was about, like, Jude Law or Kevin Federline, everyone would be FREAKING OUT about how absolutely dead set true it probably is and what a horrible person they are.
None of us know any of them or what they may or may not be capable of.
People also tend to forget that many actors get into it HOPING to get so famous that they want to snap pictures of them. It isn’t until after they get extremely lucky and catch a break that they decide they don’t want it anymore. I’m sorry you want millions of people to spend loads of money to watch you and then get upset when they want a picture with their favorite actor! *gasp* How very cruel of us nobodies. We should hand over our wallets and admire them from the screen, who are we to get interested in them?
No problem geronimo – obviously still speculation but it makes sense with the other peices of the story (sadly)
Well, Samantha, I hope that you get your own little private stalker that hounds you and snaps photos of you every time you walk down the street since you think it’s so fun! Fun fun fun! Awesome. Wow, I really do hope that you never become a lawyer, since your views of the law seem to go a bit muddy. And on that note…I’m outta here.
I find it hilarious that people dislike him or find him creepy from his psycho character, since bale modeled that character after tom cruise. lol.
Thanks, Blunted. If all that’s even remotely true, I’d say all our ramblings today are for naught.
He yelled at his mother and sister, and was arrested for it. England’s got some pretty effed up laws, and this one happens to be one of them.
According to the police report, Bale was charged with Class 4 Assault, which, according to English law is “verbal intent to cause alarm.”
Diva, not true at all. Maybe you’re speaking for yourself here.
Logic and objectivity alone would be enough to question this in the light of how the two women went about making the assault complaint. The story, imo, is dodgy based soley on the basic facts we know, and not because Christian Bale happens to be involved.
“verbal intent to cause alarm” means anything that would cause the other to get upset. Calling someone a “bitchass c*ntface” would get you arrested just as quickly as yelling that said person will never see a dime of your money. Nice, eh?
With all due respect, geronimo, there are no “facts” to be had here. And logic based on hearsay is not actually logic, and objectivity based on looks isn’t objectivity.
My point was just as much to those who think he’s guilty because they don’t like his mouth as those who don’t think it’s possible because they think he’s something they’ve derived from seeing his movies and on the red carpet.
I wasn’t insinuating Christian Bale was guilty or not guilty of anything. And the names I mentioned were chosen purely out of recollection of people on this site that most people don’t like. My only point was that it’s not something ANY of us could make any sort of educated guess on… at the time of my post, anyway. Plus, I will also, in my defense, lol, say that from the time of my typing to hitting submit was about 20 minutes (I’m at work) and a significant more amount of information about the probable nature of the mother and sister was presented that I had not seen.
Anyway, to make an already too long post longer… my point was simply that there is no way to know who is or isn’t the type to do anything if you only see them from the other side of a lens, be it still or moving.
He and his Mom split years ago when Bale moved to USA with his Dad…..I’ll say it a millon times….success brings the family out of the woodwork-everyone wants a piece.
I heart Diva for her imminently sane and reasonable comments above. I absolutely love Bale as an actor, and think he’s yummy to look at but none of us know him as a person and so like, Diva and mairead and a few others here have said, I will reserve judgment till futher information comes to light.
Agree with geronimo……logic states this man is unbelievably private….the timing is all wrong.
Oh I’m so torn between my BADettes… Maybe its because all (erm, most) of the coments on this thread are so bloody logical
Diva, sorry, didn’t mean to be snarky earlier (one of those quick instinctive reaction posts). Just a bit annoyed at your denial that there are no known facts here. There ARE, and although I’m not at all one for jumping in before evidence is available, I’m sticking to my guns here:
I read this story yesterday morning in the UK press and the ‘facts’ I’m referring to, the two things that raised a red flag for me, were –
(1) that the accusers were his mother and sister which immediately suggested a history of bad blood;
(2) that although the assault occurred on Sunday night at the Dorchester (always surrounded by police), they waited until they were back in Hampshire the following day to report it.
I’m not expecting anyone else to understand why these two things raised a red flag for me but they did and I’m sticking by my gut reaction. But I’m not arguing about it anymore.
Wow…this whole list of comments should be preserved in some sociological study. I am amazed at how so many people are so quick to condemn a person they know nothing about. Someone can seriously judge a person by his or her acting roles? You all need to go take an acting lesion just to increase you knowledge of a profession you obviously like.
Those who are so quick to condemn should be condemned quickly so they can see how it feels to be judged by hysteria. It is rather scary.
I can see here also that the male is odd man out. People just naturally tend to believe the women. Come on girls you know how sneaky and evil and violent some females can be. His mother was a circus performer! This is not the classiest of professions. It is a rough and tumble life to be sure. The mother and the sister may make Cortney Love look like a nun.
And what kind of world or family do you come from where there is not anger? Anger must be managed but it is natural reaction to frustrating situations.
I find these comments way scarier than what Mr Bale might have done. Let those who condemn easily be easily condemned. That’s all I have to say.
due to all his recent attention it seems Bale has been looking for a way to blow off some steam. here is stolen audio from his most recent phone call to Morgan Freeman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRCivNG2QAU
The word assault is often misunderstood, and in Batman’s case, the confusion seems widespread on both the Internet and the street. Recent allegations that “Dark Knight” star Christian Bale assaulted his mother and sister have been translated by far too many people into “Did you hear he beat up his mother and sister?”
Roughly speaking, assault generally means putting someone in reasonable fear that harmful or offensive contact with them is imminent. For example, in a heated argument, anything from harsh words to a raised fist could lead the recipient to believe that an offensive contact was about to follow, and that they are therefore being assaulted. In fact, no contact need occur at all: an assault charge can stand on its own in most jurisdictions.
Whatever happened between Mr. Bale and his family, the public must remember two things. First, an allegation, until proven, is only an allegation. Second, the word assault is not synonymous with the words “beat up.”
Christian Bale, like many very talented people, is an intense individual.
It is, nonetheless, ridiculous to attribute personality traits to physical characteristics. Reading some of the comments here saying that he has dead eyes or a weird mouth really irks me. No one knows what happened behind closed doors except those involved and even they only know it from their own point of view… It was investigated. He wasn’t charged. There is your answer.