Russell Crowe - Altercations and Controversies

Altercations and Controversies

Between 1999 and 2005 Crowe was involved in three altercations which gave him a reputation for having a bad temper.

In 1999, Crowe was involved in a scuffle at the Plantation Hotel in Coffs Harbour, Australia, which was caught on security video. Two men were acquitted of using the video in an attempt to blackmail Crowe.

Four years later, when part of Crowe's appearance at the 2002 BAFTA awards was cut out to fit into the BBC's tape-delayed broadcast, Crowe used strong language during an argument with producer Malcolm Gerrie. The part cut was a poem in tribute to actor Richard Harris who was then terminally ill, and was cut for copyright reasons. Crowe later apologised, saying "What I said to him may have been a little bit more passionate than now, in the cold light of day, I would have liked it to have been." Later that year, Crowe was alleged to have been involved in a "brawl" with businessman Eric Watson inside a trendy Japanese restaurant in London. The fight was broken up by British actor Ross Kemp.

In June 2005, Crowe was arrested and charged with second-degree assault by New York City police, after he threw a telephone at an employee of the Mercer Hotel who refused to help him place a call when the system did not work from his room, and was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (the telephone). The employee, a concierge, was treated for a facial laceration. After his arrest Crowe underwent a perp walk, a procedure customary especially in New York exposing the enchained suspect to the news media to take pictures. This procedure was under discussion as potentially violating Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Crowe later described the incident as "possibly the most shameful situation that I've ever gotten myself in... and I've done some pretty dumb things in my life". Crowe pleaded guilty and was conditionally discharged. Before the trial he settled a lawsuit filed by the concierge, Nestor Estrada. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed but amounts in the six-figure range have been suggested.

Crowe's altercations were lampooned in the South Park episode, "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer". The telephone incident had a generally negative impact on Crowe's public image, an example of negative public relations DPR in the mass media. A professional public image as "The Gladiator" had to compete alongside one as "the telephone throwing actor". Crowe commented the ongoing media perpetuation in November 2010, five years into the process, during an interview with American television talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose: "it affected me psychologically" (...) "it indelibly changed me". A new drive to the topic brought the actor's participation in the microblogging service Twitter from April 2010.

In June 2011, Crowe expressed in the course of a friendly Twitter conversation with his colleague, Jewish screenwriter Eli Roth, his views against infant circumcision, calling the practice "barbaric" and asking, "Who are you to correct nature? Is it real that requires a donation of foreskin? Babies are perfect." The comments coincided with a debate to ban the procedure on infants in California, USA. Crowe, living in New South Wales, Australia, and not being a member of any church, removed the comments the following day and tweeted an apology: "My personal beliefs aside I realise that some will interpret this debate as me mocking the rituals and traditions of others. I am very sorry."

Since 15 November 2011 Crowe supports the first globally networked protest movement OWS – Occupy Wall Street movement via Twitter, asking his 310,000 followers to listen to Keith Olbermann Reading Occupy Wall Street Declaration and stating on 15 November 2011 via his Twitter account