The Dark Knight Is Apparently Kind of A Dick. Or Maybe Not.

Reader Comments

1. Michael Guillen 07/22/2008 @ 2:53pm

   I’m truly surprised you would feed the gossip mill, Todd, when even the Variety article you cite specifically states “assault allegations against the star of The Dark Knight ... have yet to become clear.” Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?  Who knows, maybe his mom and sister are the real dicks?  Just by the grace of their sex, they shouldn’t be exonerated beforehand.

2. studboi69 07/22/2008 @ 3:01pm

   I’m taking all this with a grain of salt. From what we gathered, these “assault allegations” amounted to nothing more than shouting and maybe a push, and those charges were cleared in a matter of hours. However, we still don’t know what actually happened. All I know is I will truly be disheartened if Christian Bale reall did “assault” them.

3. Todd Brown 07/22/2008 @ 3:10pm

   Whatever happened I know exactly what is required to get someone arrested and taken to the police station on an assault charge (it was a common scenario when I worked in homeless shelters) and for the cops to have come out to the hotel where they were staying, pick Bale up and bring him in something definitely happened.  From the sister’s comment that this is a family matter it sounds like people have decided to shut up and not take it any further in public, which makes it pointless for police to lay any charges but for a situation to have gotten to the point where the police would be called in in the first place, and for the situation to have still been hot enough when they arrived for them to take Bale away, there’s got to be something behind the story.  Yes, it’s quite possible that mom and sis provoked him somehow or that something else was going on but come on ... how many people do you know whose own mother and sister have had them arrested on trumped up charges?

4. Michael Guillen 07/22/2008 @ 3:17pm

   Especially the mother and sister of an actor with deep pockets.

5. Michael Guillen 07/22/2008 @ 3:22pm

   I’m sorry, Todd, I’m not trying to be unnecessarily contrary.  I respect that your experience with the homeless shelters have made you sensitive to these issues; but, that being said, I’ve worked my entire adult life with the criminal justice system, most recently with the California Court of Appeals.  I, too, know what’s involved in getting arrested but also know how many millions of variant details can undermine the circumstances of an arrest.

   I’m not saying Bale’s not guilty.  It’s just that my work with the courts, and especially the middle courts, have made me sensitive to denying the accused due rights and fair discretion.

6. Ard Vijn 07/22/2008 @ 4:16pm

   Terrible as this is going to sound, I think family members are actually the only people I’ve ever done something to that might be construed as an ‘assault’.
   
   
   
   All I know is that Bale is an intensely dedicated and headstrong individual, and an easy target. Don’t forget that this took place in the UK, where press sources are very unreliable. I have no clue as to the actual events, including the reason why the police showed up, the timing of the alleged assault charge by his mother and sister (before, during or after the police visit).
   
   I have family working in the police force and man… you have no idea how even easily verifiable facts are misquoted, misconstrued or misplaced when such a news item appears.

7. Andrew Cunningham 07/22/2008 @ 4:42pm

   The article I saw the family affair quote in also pointed out that he’d moved out of his mother’s house as a teenager, and lived with his father. Sounds like a long standing conflict.
   And estranged family members coming to see you as your new movie breaks box office records does sound like the sort of situation that could get ugly fast.

8. The Visitor 07/22/2008 @ 5:46pm

   this is definitely going to spawn some urban legends ... “The Dark Knight is jinxed!”

9. Simon Abrams 07/22/2008 @ 5:47pm

   Yeah, well I am the justice system and I know that I shouldn’t finish this joke lest either Michael or Todd assault me with sticks...on fire? COVERED IN BEES?!

10. Rhythm-X 07/22/2008 @ 6:52pm

    I’d expect him to deny it.  Especially if he’s innocent, which might very well be the case.

11. ChevalierAguila 07/22/2008 @ 7:26pm

    “how many people do you know whose own mother and sister have had them arrested on trumped up charges?”

    It will surprise you many do that.

12. kevin 07/22/2008 @ 8:36pm

    to complete the gossip circle of life, TMZ is reporting that Bale flipped out on the set of T4 a few days before this and threatened to kick a cinematographer’s ass in front of hundreds of people

13. Swarez 07/23/2008 @ 1:35am

    I should point out that the term assault does not mean the same thing in the UK as it does in the US. What he’s “charged” with is shouting at his mother and sister.

    If he was charged with doing some physical damage he would have been charged with battery.

14. evergreen 07/23/2008 @ 1:41am

    Stop it, guys, stop it! Just because he took the fall for Harvey doesn’t mean we can start blaming him for everything.

15. Ard Vijn 07/23/2008 @ 2:10am

    Swarez is right, by the way. Spitting for example ALSO counts as assault in the UK.
    
    Ticket controllers in public transportation were being spat upon so often, all trains and subways have DNA-kits on board to secure samples of spit.
    And as the UK works with an extensive country-wide DNA-database which also contains the majority of non-criminals, spitters now automatically get a visit from the police two months later…

16. BtoFu 07/23/2008 @ 3:09am

    So long as he wore the suit when he threw down with them!

17. dwinstigator 07/23/2008 @ 4:01am

    Wow, this news item is unfortunate. Seriously, posting celebrity gossip involving highly unsubstantiated allegations and drawing conclusions from them? On Twitch? Come on.

    Furthermore, actual facts are in no way required to get police involved in something. It simply involves a phone call. I could call the police right now and allege all kinds of baseless things and they’d have to look into my charges. Maybe they should be allowed to figure it out on their without cross-continental backseat driving.

    [I would also note that the police have explained that the situation didn’t warrant immediate action and they didn’t seek Bale out until after he’d dealt with all the Dark Knight publicity events.]

    But hey, way to assume the man’s guilty and a dick without any actual evidence. Nancy Grace would be proud.

18. The Visitor 07/23/2008 @ 4:14am

    i was once charged with battery. AA size.

19. DrBaltar 07/23/2008 @ 4:28am

    Sorry Mr Brown, but you are WAY off on this story. I don’t care how well you KNOW the legal system in America, but as other people have already commented, you know very little about our legal system. Get your facts straight before you lambast someone from the comfort of your desk. While we are on the subject of getting facts straight, the Police did NOT ‘pick him up’. He went to them.

    Still seem cut and dried to you?

20. Aleph 07/23/2008 @ 4:46am

    Yeah. News reports from non-tabloid sources all said he went to the police station voluntarily. Christian Bale hates media scrutiny, I doubt he would want to stretch this issue longer than it already is.

21. cancelbutton 07/23/2008 @ 5:18am

    lol, I also expected better from twitch.  And i will always continue to expect the best because i know that is what twith provides.  A little road bump here or there is no matter to me.

22. anton_es 07/23/2008 @ 5:33am

    unnecessary article. and yeah, this happened in THE UK, not USA. so assault != physical violence. until then, WHO CARES. I’m interested in movies, not the private life of the actors. low point on twitch.

23. Ard Vijn 07/23/2008 @ 5:50am

    Nevertheless, we’ll do our utmost to get an exclusive interview with Christian Bale.

    And as we’re known to be a site that is about movies, not gossip, he might… oh.
    Crap.

24. DrBaltar 07/23/2008 @ 5:59am

    Personally I think Todd Brown should at least admit he was wrong. Talk about bad reporting. C’mon, have the guts to admit when you are wrong!

25. Jay L. 07/23/2008 @ 8:26am

    It should be noted that Bale doesn’t actually have anything to do with his biological mother, nor that side of the family, and that he stayed with his father when his parents divorced.  Word is that his mother has been trying to sponge off him since he became famous, but that’s something that Bale doesn’t talk about.

    The story that’s coming out of the hotel now is that his estranged mother and sister showed up at the hotel, drunk and belligerent, and started a scene in the lobby.  They exchanged words, and then left.  The next day, they called the police, and pressed charges.

    It should also be noted that Bale wasn’t arrested.  He surrendered himself, and no charges were laid.

26. Rhythm-X 07/23/2008 @ 9:35am

    This story is still here?  Come on Todd.  Twitch has more class than this.

27. cancelbutton 07/23/2008 @ 9:40am

    Twitch is still my top book mark under movie news.

28. Pelle 07/23/2008 @ 9:42am

    I visit Twitch to avoid this crap, little disappointed.

29. Ard Vijn 07/23/2008 @ 10:17am

    For all of you who think Todd should take this article down, or think he is arrogantly non-responsive, please note that he probably has limited access to the site today.
    Some very good statements were made and it’s not like Todd is an ass, so he’ll probably respond in due time.
    
    As for whether or not Twitch should post something like this, that’s completely Todd’s decision. I was a bit surprised to see it here, but we all write about what interests us in movie-land and this story apparently struck a nerve with him.
    
    And I’d like to add that only at Twitch would we get such an intelligent discussion going over such a “paparazzi” subject. Mr. Bale was well defended, and no one resorted to namecalling.
    ...well, apart from Todd, who called him Kind of a Dick. Hm.
    
    Incidentally, speaking about paparazzi makes you wonder why those guys exist in the first place. But now I know: this ‘scoop’ was the best-read article on the site today.
    
    Go figure…

30. Jahsoldier 07/23/2008 @ 10:21am

    Have to admit I was a little surprised to see this headline on Twitch. Sounds like you are jumping the gun a bit even if you add “apparently”.

    As already stated this happened in the UK so obviously the lawful terms used will be different from in the US. Also worth noting this story is the product of the British media. If you regularly read the news articles among the tabloids you will understand their mindset. Enough said on that I feel.

    Also seems odd since this has come about during the biggest film premier opening of his career. The more rotten aspects of one’s close friends and family have a tendency to come to light when there is a great deal of publicity and money surrounding the situation.

    I’m sure he is innocent given the man he seems to be and so intelligent but if he is guilty of some sort of physical attack it will be disappointing.

31. Rhythm-X 07/23/2008 @ 11:53am

    Naturally, it’s Todd’s site all the way.  He could turn it into a Canadian answer to TMZ if that was his inclination.  I don’t think that’s the game plan.  But there’s a comment box here, so clearly our input is desired - indeed, the exact wording is “Your Comments (Required)”, so who am I to argue with that?  And my comment is that I feel this whole Bale family incident is celebrity gossip not worthy of coverage, at least not at this time.  The contrast with Twitch’s handling of the situation involving Bale’s fellow DARK KNIGHT cast member Edison Chen is particularly striking.

32. Todd Brown 07/23/2008 @ 1:38pm

    1.  I didn’t ‘add’ apparently, that was part of the original headline.  I did add the ‘Or maybe not’ as details came out.

    2.  I don’t see our mentioning this as being substantially different from how we handled the Edison Chen thing at all.  Both were too big to ignore, both got single, brief and to the point comments based on the best information available at the time.  As for the rest of it, read my original post:  I stand by every word.  Life aint good when you’ve got family members having you charged with assault and whether it be shouting, spitting, a physical attack or anything else of the sort, doing something that would lead to your mother and sister calling the cops on you - regardless of whether you were provoked or not - makes you kind of a dick in my book.  Your book may be different, I grant you that, but if that’s the case then I ask you to please stay away from my mother.

33. missmissa85 07/23/2008 @ 1:45pm

    I’m reluctant to villainize Christian Bale based on this one incident.  It’s not like this is the latest in a string of incidents, such as Russell Crowe throwing a phone at a hotel worker.  There have also never been any reports of spousal abuse, and he’s known his wife for 14 years and been married to her for eight and they have a three year old.  I think someone would have seen something in that time if her were a violent person.  I’ve been following this story since yesterday, and the definitive account, from what I can tell, is that the man has not actually been charged with a crime, which is why the London police force refused to name him.  I’m also wary of these allegations because the police received the report on Sunday night and didn’t even ask Bale to give his own account until Tuesday.  He was at the police station for four hours, and he’s being allowed to leave the country on Thursday.  To me that doesn’t sound like he’s been involved in anything too serious.  I also get the feeling that his family kind of sucks.  His parents divorced when he was in his mid-teens, and I think his dad and sister, Louise (not the one pressing charges), pretty much raised him after that (I’m infering this from information from various sources).  And since his visit to the police station has been splattered all over the news, it’s come out that he lost his temper on the set of T4 last Friday.  Well, I’ve had whole weekends where I was pissed at the world too.  My main concern is that his mom and sister are rather like my dad’s mom and sister as I can see them filing assault charges for shoving and spitting.  I just have to believe it was nothing worse than that as I thuroughly believe the London police would have made an example of him had he truly ‘assaulted’ them.  Final verdict, in my opinion, let’s wait until September to start villainizing one of the greatest heroes to grace the modern screen.

34. Todd Brown 07/23/2008 @ 2:01pm

    Russell Crowe:  definitely a dick.

35. Web-Monkey 07/23/2008 @ 6:14pm

    The web monkey is humoured by those lambasting Todd and Twitch because of a “useless”, “gossip mill” post that they can’t stop talking about.

    next.

36. Aspeth 07/23/2008 @ 8:25pm

    It surprises me how everyone still eats up everything the media tells them to.

    And surprising how easily people sit on their high horses. Have you never had a fight with a family member? Has no one you know overreacted, and you came out of the situation looking like the jerk?

    What is official is that Bale *voluntarily* went to the police, and after a few hours, left without any charges. No one is in the hospital, no one is behind bars - the media has blown this out of proportion.

    I’ve talked to many people about this matter, and while some automatically climb onto their high horses (cough Todd) I’ve been surprised how many, many people feel sorry for Bale. Those are the ones who themselves have extremely frustrated relationships with their families. Coming from a family with a VERY high flare for drama, I can’t help but feel that this was simply a family feud blown out of proportions.

    He was not charged with battery. And in Britain, “assault” usually means along the lines of “verbal” assault.

    Next time think for yourself before you make yourself look like the fool instead of Bale.

37. Novastar 07/23/2008 @ 8:29pm

    This explains why he got along with Russel Crowe on the set of the movie 3:10 to Yuma. When he said in an interview we have a lot in common, people overlooked that statement.

38. Aleph 07/23/2008 @ 8:31pm

    “mother and sister calling the cops on you - regardless of whether you were provoked or not - makes you kind of a dick in my book.”

    If the mom and sister called the cops when Bale didn’t do anything wrong (shouting at your family members isn’t exactly a crime, every family fights, especially estranged ones such as this), doesn’t that make them the dicks? It seems like you’re sympathizing with them just because they’re females.

39. Todd Brown 07/24/2008 @ 6:20am

    And I suspect you’re sympathizing with Christian Bale simply because he’s Christian Bale and you like his movies.  I never said he was a criminal, I said it seemed as though he behaved like a dick.

40. Aleph 07/24/2008 @ 6:57am

    Yeah, I have to admit that’s true, can’t deny that

41. Simon Abrams 07/24/2008 @ 7:01am

    “Where will it eeeeeeend? Where will it end?
    Where will it eeeeeeeend? WHERE WILL IT END?!”

    -Ian Curtis-

42. Collin Armstrong 07/24/2008 @ 10:24am

    Why should it end?  I would be surprised if Todd hadn’t expected this post to generate some opinionated discussion.  Nothing wrong with that.

    The fact that the posts have been considered and thoughtfully worded speaks a lot about the people who visit Twitch every day.

    I say let it roll on.  It continues to make for a very entertaining read…

43. Rhythm-X 07/24/2008 @ 11:25am

    I won’t bash Todd in any way though I still disagree with this tabloid-ish story being posted in the first place.  But Todd’s house, Todd’s rules, very much as it should be.  I would like to elaborate on my comparison to the Edison Chen debacle.  No, not GEN-Y COPS, the more recent Edison Chen debacle.

    Twitch was much slower to even “go there” with Edison.  The first line of Twitch’s piece on Edison Chen’s scandal was an explanation as to the lack of coverage of it at all ("We’re not a gossip blog").  It could be argued that once BBC and other actual news organisations picked up the Bale story that it ceased to be gossip - but the same would be true of Edison Chen and his laptop, which dominated the news in Hong Kong for what seemed like decades before Twitch even acknowledged the sordid affair.

    It’s the contrast in the tone of it that jumped out at me.  Bale is immediately “apparently kind of a dick” in the headline, before the facts are anywhere close to clear - enough so to warrant the addition of “or maybe not” to said headline at a later point.

    Edison Chen, despite confirming that he really did do what he was alleged to have done, manages to escape without getting name-called in the headline - indeed, he gets props in the Twitch story for owning up to what he’d done… which was unmistakably dickish. Banging your friend’s fiancee and/or wife (I’m referring to Cecilia Chung) and taking pictures of it?  That’s the very epitome of a dick move.

    On the other hand, Bale gets the “Bale’s denying it, of course, but what else would you expect him to do?” treatment for something that it is entirely possible he did not do.  The implication in that choice of words couldn’t be clearer.  It seems like a presumption of guilt.  It might not be intentional, but that’s how the wording plays.

    Indeed, if he had actually done anything violent, you’d think the cops would have taken a more serious attitude than “show up when you’ve got a minute”, which was apparently how it was handled.  I don’t know about the UK or Canada, but in the States if police are called on a loud argument between a man and a woman, the woman will (correctly) get the benefit of the doubt Every Single Time, unless she’s extremely obviously the one causing 100% of the trouble.

    So, in more words than I had intended, that’s where I’m coming from when I talk about the contrast in the handling of the two unfortunate stories.

44. Todd Brown 07/24/2008 @ 12:37pm

    Hey Rhythm ... I think part of the difference there was that everybody already knew Edison was a dick.  That wasn’t news.  He’s been a cocky, irresponsible prat from the day he arrived on the scene.  He was an idiot, absolutely - and so were all the girls who allowed him to take those shots - but the surprising bit to me in the whole story - and thus the bit of news worth commenting on - was that he actually manned up about it and took it on the chin.  That was a surprise.

45. Rhythm-X 07/24/2008 @ 1:04pm

    True enough - my point in contrasting the stories was that I wholeheartedly agree with the restraint exercised in the case of Edison Chen (known dick), whereas in the Christian Bale incident it seems a little trigger-happy to me.

    I’ve had the cops called on me because a neighbor heard me and a female roommate rather loudly (100% non-violently, though) arguing - a platonic, seperate-bedrooms relationship, it bears mentioning.  She could have had me sent to jail easily (sniffsniff he tried to strangle me sniff) - fortunately she was not so vindictive or evil as that.  As it stands, she had to repeat exactly what happened twice before the cops would even leave us alone in the apartment. That’s not a complaint - I feel that’s entirely correct if there’s any question about what happened, and I made damn sure the cops knew I felt that way.  The point being, I know from unpleasant personal experience that these situations are not always what they might appear to be to someone looking at it from the outside.  For all I know, Bale’s situation is identical to the one I found myself in.  No fun, no fun at all explaining “No, Officer, I really didn’t hit her.” It sucks.

46. Aspeth 07/24/2008 @ 4:40pm

    What’s interesting is that Bale is a guy who’s been in the showbiz for twenty years and has never appeared in the tabloids even once.

    And now his movie is a phenomenal hit, and all of a sudden, everyone has dirt on him.

    It’s wrong to say Bale is 100 percent innocent. Obviously he must’ve done something.

    But again, judging by the facts that he’s been accused of VERBAL assault, and he turned himself in (that’s not exactly a dick-ish action, is it?) and that the police have let him go without charging him with anything, anyone can deduce for themselves that obviously his mother and sister aren’t saints, either.

    Or, instead of trying to deduce the facts for yourself, you can just swallow everything the always-reliable, super-nice gossip tabloids feed you.

47. The Visitor 07/24/2008 @ 6:21pm

    nah, Edison is an un-mannish dick. remember, it took him a long while before he owned up to it. and then he made a public non-apology on video. and then he attempted to copyright those pictures! that’s extremely dickishly dicky dick.

48. Rhythm-X 07/24/2008 @ 8:36pm

    “It’s wrong to say Bale is 100 percent innocent. Obviously he must’ve done something.”

    I wouldn’t even go that far.  He might have done something, he could have done something, but I can’t say that he must have done something.  That’s the sort of thinking that almost got me carted off to jail because my roommate and I were yelling at each other over the electric bill.

    As for Edison trying to copyright them - not remotely dickish at all though it might seem it on the surface.  Without copyright on the pictures he has no legal grounds to stop their distribution.  It’s not like someone stole his property.  He still had the pictures, so he hadn’t actually lost anything.  We’re off in intellectual property la-la land now.  Only through exercising his copyright on those photos could he hope to even slow down their distribution.  Call him a dick about a thousand other things, and I’m right there with you, but copyrighting the pictures was the right and responsible thing to do under those circumstances.

49. Aspeth 07/24/2008 @ 8:56pm

    Rhythm X - I meant that he must have done “something”, along the lines of “obviously something happened that pissed his mother and sister off” But I agree with you, it was probably some argument that involved Mommie Dearest and her daughter trying to ride off Bale’s recent paycheck for TDK.

    It’s unbelievable that people still view such situations as completely black and white, though. Just because she is his mother doesn’t mean that she isn’t capable of saying or doing something so atrocious as to hack her son off like that.

50. cancelbutton 07/25/2008 @ 11:08am

    I think it was martin lawrence who said something along the lines of, while you are failing, you have no family, but once your a success you have cousins you have never heard of, uncles and aunties etc etc. 
    But who in their entire life hasn’t yelled at a relative?  Some people will say they haven’t but what else would you expect them to say.
    But still, Todd i respect you more for changing the headline and responding thoughtfully to our comments.  A lesser admin/blogger would have just deleted everything.
    Twitch is still NUMBER 1.

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