Many think that alcohol not only loosens tongues, but acts like some kind of truth serum. “In vino veritas” and all of that. Personally, I found that different alcoholic beverages make me feel different things. Tequila always makes me a happy, giddy drunk. Whiskey makes me amorous. Vodka makes me kind of depressed. Gin makes me really, really sick. I’ve never really found a drink that makes me racist or xenophobic. Well… I might have talked trash to some English guys about the UK, but I ended up making out with all of them, so it doesn’t count, right?
So what does it say about Rhys Ifans when he gets hammered at Comic-Con (in San Diego, California, FYI) and starts bad-mouthing America? Does Rhys hate America? Or was it just the liquor? More importantly than the America-bashing, what does it say about Rhys that he shoved and acted aggressive and belligerent towards a female security guard? Woman-hater? Violent misogynist? Or was it, once again, just the alcohol?
“The Amazing Spider-Man” villain Rhys Ifans was arrested and cited for misdemeanor battery for shoving a female security guard before Friday night’s Comic-Con panel for the film, police tell TheWrap.
Ifans, who smelled of alcohol, became irate when a member of his entourage was unable to enter the hall for lack of proper credentialing, police said. They said he shoved the guard in order to pass through, and was allowed to participate in the panel, but the guard subsequently made a citizen’s arrest.
A spokesman for Sony said that Ifans “deeply regrets the incident.”
“He was aggressive and belligerent,” Lt. Andra Brown said of the Welsh actor. “He was… berating everyone from the security staff to the United States of America.”
“He was cited and released, which is a non-custodial misdemeanor arrest,” added Brown, who said that the San Diego City Attorney will now determine whether to pursue charges. Ifans could be required to pay a fine, or could contest the case before a judge.
“But, according to him, the U.S. sucks and he doesn’t want to come back,” Brown said.
An individual with knowledge of the incident said security was very “tight and aggressive backstage.” The person said Ifans stepped outside to smoke a cigarette, and when he tried to get back in security tried to stop him and his entourage, which escalated into an argument.
Ifans also marked his 44th birthday Friday, according to the birthdate on his passport provided by police.
In Sony’s “Spider-Man” reboot, due next summer, Ifans plays the villainous Lizard, a scientist who takes on reptilian features after looking for a way to grow back his missing arm.
“Rhys Ifans was detained by Comic-Con security after a brief incident backstage prior to and immediately following the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ panel,'” a spokesman for Sony said in a statement. “Police were notified and a citation was issued to Mr. Ifans, who deeply regrets this incident.”
Ifans’ agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ifans joined the “Spider-Man” panel late, after a sneak preview introducing his character. He spoke little, and co-stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone and director Marc Webb fielded most of the questions.
Here is a statement to TheWrap from Lt. Brown:
“Rhys Ifans (the Lizard in the new “Spider-Man” movie) was placed under citizen’s arrest for battery on a security guard. A member of his entourage did not have proper credentials for the entrance he was at. He was abusive, belligerent, and aggressive, and shoved a female security guard aside to shove his way through. After the panel, he was cited and released. He was verbally abusive to all around…security, the PD and the USA. After receiving his citation he left the venue.”
[From The Wrap]
On one side, I feel for Lt. Brown, just because I can totally imagine how much it sucks for an adult woman trying to act as a security guard in a sea of kids and nerds. I also think that there might be a missing part to this story, a part where Rhys pulled the “Don’t you know who I am?” card and Lt. Brown didn’t know, nor did care, and that is what made this incident worse: wounded celebrity pride on Rhys’s part. All of that being said, DUDE, get a grip. You’re at Comic-Con! Stop shoving women and acting like a d-bag.
Photos courtesy of Fame.
Who the hell is that? It looks like something growing on the side of a tree trunk.
No loss if the thug doesn’t want to come back to the U.S. One less a-hole we have to deal with.
to act as a british punk at a Comic-Con is so funny and depressive in the same time: this “scandal” is a “no-event”
Here’s to hoping Fassbender reads this thread and shows up at Kaiser’s place next weekend with some Whiskey-Tequila shooters.
(Note: In Costa Rica, these shooters are called cockroaches. One sets it on fire then drinks it through a straw. You know you’ve had enough when your nose hair bursts into flames)
Well Rhys Ifans can kiss any chances of having a stateside career good-bye. How can you not be happy at San Diego Comic Con?! It’s full of joy and nerd happiness! That being said, SDCC gets majorly crowded and can be a PITA to move around in so I’m sure the security guard was no nonsense about it as you have to be.
Hmmm…Rhys must have had a shot of whatever Mel Gibson drank the night he was arrested.
He’s a mess, the UK version of Andy Dick.
What a jerk. On top of all that, this also means he showed up pretty drunk for a professional event promoting a film. Classy.
If I had to shill at ComicCon I’d have a few drinks before the proceedings too.
What is going on with this guy? I thought he (or his character, rather) was adorable in Notting Hill.
awww, crap Rhys, why’d you have to go and do that?
He’s one of my favorite actors and a pretty good musician to boot. Wore the hell out of a suit in Pirate Radio.
I’ve never noticed any difference in behavior on different alcohol. Physical differences yeah, and stuff like tequila or absinthe will creep up on you and all of a sudden you’re hammered, but unless people are pilling at the same time or something, I don’t get the behavior stuff.
As for “what does it mean that he shoved a female security guard”, women in these fields of work are not typically fragile little flowers that need special treatment above their male counterparts. Not excusing Rhys’ behavior, but it could simply be an “authority” thing, and not a female thing, unless he’s exclusively treating females like crap all over the place.
Who the f**k is this fool? Get the f**k out of the US and stop collecting American dollars for your funky attitude! You like all the other American bashers are pure hypocrites. Get the f**k out of America and stay the f**k out! I have never heard of this fool and will most likely never follow anything he ever does.
Oh yeah, that old bit of the alcohol making people do and say stupid crap is just pure bull. If you are a jerk without alcohol you will become a worse jerk with the booze. Alcohol is not the culprit but the real culprit is the idiot that already lies dormant inside, just waiting for an excuse and the opportunity to come out in full force! Good riddance to bad rubbish. We have enough problems of our own without having some jack off coming here and hating on us. And a drunk one to boot!
well, at the same time, SD is beoming a police state-i live here and have for some time-and i live in an upscale area…SD has always been one of the safest cities for it’s size, but now the police are an even more agressive presence to make sure it stays that way.
sure, i like the relative safety, but the security at public events here is insane and over the top.
Contrast that to some other large cities i’ve lived in, where it has been reasonable and secure but not with complete attitude. Here, the power over others attitude is alive and well, with security and police. Heck, even the security dude at the bank (every.time.I.go.in…hint=small bank in small beach town hood, every week, they know me, etc] tells me to remove my hat for the security cameras. It really has become more pervasive in the last 5 yrs or so….
Also, SD is one of the ‘test markets’ of the country-for everything from marketing products to testing new security and sheeple control measures….
My spouse was born and raised here-there is a reason it has been called La-La land for so long. It’s a ‘nice’ place with ‘nice’ weather and ‘nice people’ [okay, people are not as nice anymore, sadly, now that the area has grown]-but you get the point….
Nice, with noone to complain, and everyone to be glad they are told what to do and how to do it….
Now that i am done with my rant, this guy should in no way have pushed a security guard. NO excuses….
Hahaha…@brin…good one, US version of Andy Dick!!! Like it!
Yeah, it’s just all kinds of wrong for celebs to show up at such functions wasted. I mean, COME ON..it’s one thing to go out on your own, a night out, & pull a drunk one. It’s another thing to show up at a kids/nerds thing, allegedly promoting your work, shoving a security guard, bad-mouthing the country that pay big bucks for such?
Nah…I don’t care how drunk you are…you start shoving security, you’re ASKING for it. He could’ve calmed down, put his ego in check, & they’d have figured out eventually this hobo-looking dude was actually an actor. Got what he deserved.
@Cheyenne LOL at the “something growing on the side of a tree trunk” comment.
Aw, come on Ifans. I like you. You’re funny. You scared the crap out of me in Enduring Love. So quit it.
What kind of judgement do you expect from a guy who thinks hooking up with Sienna Miller is a good idea?
Xenophilius Lovegood hates foreigners?! NO WAY!
Sorry, but I do not buy any of the defenses for this guy’s behavior. There was absolutely no reason for him to do what he did, excessive security or not. Security are there for a reason. Not to mention the fact that it’s extremely unprofessional to show up drunk and belligerent to a work-related event promoting your film.
At first, I thought he was drinking to get over Sienna hooking up with his BFF, Matthew Rhys from Brothers & Sisters. But it’s been years. The dude has a drinking problem. And FYI…pushing on any security officer/policemen will result in an arrest.
Dear Mr. Ifans,
if you don’t like America, take your ass on back across the pond and don’t do blockbuster movies that bring you here for promotion.
KTHXBYE,
Me
PS: Take a page from Richard Armitage’s book. He was gracious, charming, and appreciative of the opportunity he was given with Captain America.
A drunken B’day tantrum at CC?… How so not fun especially when they publish your REAL AGE later. Gotta think about these things before you chug gin!
He got arrested because he pushed through a police block to an event that he was speaking at and then got a bit larey, meanwhile some police officers get to paraphrase what he said. We’re not really talking Charlie Sheen here are we..
Chill out people. He probably made some typically British snarky remark about Americans not having a sense of humor or something and it got taken too seriously. What exactly did he say?
@LindaLou: Have another drink, dearie. It might calm you down.
Wasn’t born in America but I had the opportunity of migrating here for school and now work. I am greatful every day for this opportunity. If this gremlin doesn’t like America, his ugly ass should go home and never come back.
Hey Rhys, put down the bottle and put away your fists. It’s time for you to FOAD. Oh, and a little career advice: if you hate America so much, don’t take roles that require you to be here!
What a f*cking genius (!!)
I doubt if he was that drunk if he was able to contribute to a panel discussion immediately after the incident. His team sounds like they are just trying to make excuses to justify his anti-U.S. comments.
I’m not saying that his behavior is ok, but shoving a random woman and shoving a security guard are two completely different things. Would this even be an issue if the security guard was male? Would the title read? “Rhys Ifans arrested at Comic-Con after shoving a man & bashing America”?
Way to sensationalize.
Hi,
I hate to be the know it all, but it is driving me crazy. It is impossible for different types of alcohol to affect your personality and behaviour in different ways. Once it hits the stomach, it metabolizes all the same. The change in your behaviour is all based on your perception and belief; if you believe that it changes your personality, it will. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
🙂
My comment is about the cop, Lt. Andra Brown. Regardless of the situation, the police should maintain professional impartiality. Releasing the statement he did was not professional or impartial. Seems to me that a certain cop wanted to get his name in the papers.
I like him as an actor, and I thought I liked him as a person until he hooked up with Sienna Miller. This just seals the deal.
@27. Of course it would be an ‘issue’ if the guard was male. He shouldn’t be shoving anybody.
Oh for bloody sakes rhys, take your fingers out of your arse, an pull yourself together man.
Drunk British dude hating America. How’s this even news?
Fine with me, he looks like a terrorist, better kick him out.*
*I’m being facetious.
Typical of America-bashers: They don’t like America or Americans, but they don’t mind TAKING OUR MONEY in the course of their “careers,” now do they?!?
Note to “celebrities”: If you don’t like doing “press events,” then DON’T DO THEM! Give your performance in what-ever medium (film, music, etc.) and then let the “product” stand or fall on its own merits (or lack thereof)!
A drunk welsh man, not unusual:) Sounds like something and nothing.
I agree I don’t think we got the full story….maybe there was provocation, not good when alcohol is involved. Either way I’m not going to condemn some one without knowing the full story.
@pureluck
Actually, it would be even more sensational. If you were to shove a male officer, chances are, he is not going to be nice and allow you to go to your panel before they make a citizen’s arrest.
The male officer would tackle you to the ground and arrest you then and there, while making your misdemeanor battery case into something even higher.
He got off easy for shoving a female officer.
If it was a ”shove”why did he only get a citation.Sounds to me like it was more touch of the shoulder with a slight push has if I’m coming true just step aside.
Next thing you know the security guard will apear in Playboy.pllllease!
And who’s doing security,T.S.A?
I’d be pissed at the US if I get gropped at the airport at comic con go out for a cigarette and get gropped again on the way in.
They dont say that in the story,but then again they dont mention what he said specifically about the US.
Like someone else said theres got to be more to this story.
are security guards given the same status as police in situations like this?
in the UK security guards are just normal people doing a job, pushing past them would be the same a pushing past someone on the street. i doubt they’d call the police, they’d just deal with it themselves.
@Cheyenne, great comment. Have to use that one some time, hahah.
The idiot should have realized the security guard,(who probably makes $15/hr) was doing her job. What if the security guard was lax on checking credentials and a nut job entered who was not vetted or credentialed and had the potential to endanger celebrities and other attendees??? In this day and age this is not out of the range of possibilities. When I attend tech conferences security is extremely vigilant in checking credentials and these are just nerd conferences.
Yuck! I’ve never gotten his appeal.
Spider-Man teams up with Anti-American? Say it isn’t so, Marvel. This movie has disaster written all over it…
So add another reason as to why I won’t pay to see the upcoming Spider reboot.
He looks more or less exactly like Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello in that first picture.
@pureluck – I totally agree. It’s a very different thing to headline this ‘shoving a woman’ and ‘shoving a security guard’.
@Turtle Dove – again, agreed. What kind of ‘professional’ releases a personal press statement about this? It sounds like a five-minutes-of-fame thing.
@Lu- For major events, security guards are usually off-duty police officers. So chances are, she was. In most cities, it’s a big deal to even touch a police officer. And I literally do mean touch, especially if it’s during a hostile situation.
@Vickyb, Turtledove- Police release statements all the time. It’s part of their job, if applicable, to inform the public of what’s going on.
I’ve yet to meet a cop or security guard that did not ooze with that vexing air of totalitarianism accompanied by that most irksome quality of dismissing anything anyone else has to say. Go ahead, try and argue with a security guard, especially when you know you’re right (yeah, see you after the court date). Security at these events is usually in place to protect the talent, then to protect the ticket holders from each other. That Lt. Brown not only failed in her job to protect the talent, then fed the story to the press, seemingly repeatedly, and has provided the only and unsubstantiated account of what Mr. Ifans did, said or smelled like rather makes me think she has successfully achieved a level of notoriety heretofore unattained but secretly coveted, by taking full advantage of her position to make another human being’s life momentarily intolerable. I highly doubt Mr. Ifans did more than push her aside after realizing any and all attempts at verbal reasoning were moot. Of all accounts of this story only Lt. Brown has suggested Mr. Ifans said anything remotely anti-american. And frankly if this is the way he is treated at an event he has attended by request I don’t blame him. I saw the press conference. He was not aggressive, belligerent or stammering drunk after the alleged incident took place. Alas, Lt. Brown will be forgotten by next week and Mr. Ifans will continue to perform his craft with the subtle mastery he never fails to provide for many years to come. Now everybody push off and get a life.
Mari (25) – Of course the police release statements, everyone knows that, it’s the tone of the statement that is unprofessional. It is rife with bias, which is what Vickyb (45) and I are commenting about. He’s not a web poster who’s tossing out a comment; he’s supposed to uphold a standard and failed miserably at doing that.
Exactly shemp what a hypocrite and a loser; are they/he that desperate that he’s appearing at this event.