Gene Hackman isn’t typically one to make celebrity gossip headlines.
But the Oscar winner admitted to Santa Fe police yesterday that he slapped a homeless man across the face after he referred to his wife by a vulgar name on Tuesday afternoon.
The incident went down in New Mexico and was phoned in to the authorities by 63-year old Bruce Becker, the victim at the end of Hackman’s open palm.
According to Sgt. Andrea Dobyns, Becker possesses an arrest record that includes counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and arson.
“Mr. Hackman told our officers that this homeless man assaulted him and his wife and called her a foul word,” Dobyns said, adding that Hackman admitted to the slap, though there was no visible signs of injury on either party.
No charges have been filed against Hackman, as the police appear to believe his story about self-defense.
“He was afraid that he and his wife were going to be attacked,” Dobyns said.