Woody Harrelson punched man in self-defense

Los Angeles, Oct 8 (IANS) Actor Woody Harrelson punched a man in self-defense following a row after a man reportedly would not stop taking pictures of him and his daughter.

Police were called to a hotel in Washington D.C. at around 11 p.m. on Wednesday in response to a report about an assault on the roof deck, and found several people there, including the 60-year-old actor, who has Deni, Zoe and Makani with wife Laura Louie, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Police said a man, who appeared to be intoxicated, had taken photographs of Harrelson and his daughter, and so the 'Hunger Games' star reportedly approached him and asked him to stop and delete the pictures he had already taken.

A report by police officers then tells how the actor admitted he got into a verbal dispute with the man who "lunged towards" him in an attempt to "grab his neck", and so he punched him "in his neck in defense of himself".

Witnesses backed up the 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' star's account of what had happened, and police told NBC Washington their statements suggested the other man had been the aggressor.

The unnamed guy who had been taking photographs was questioned in his hotel room and his name will be released if he is charged. The investigation is still ongoing.

The actor, who has been in the city filming HBO series 'The White House Plumbers', has declined to comment on the incident.

This isn't the first time the actor has had an altercation with someone taking pictures.

In 1995, he got into a scuffle with two paparazzi who he claimed had stalked his family during a visit to Martha's Vineyard and was later ordered to pay one of them over $4,800, while the other, who had filmed the incident, was given just $2.

In 2008, he was sued for reportedly attacking and breaking the video camera of a photographer, with the case dismissed two years later after they agreed a settlement out of court.

The 'No Country For Old Men' star in 2019 was accused by a paparazzi of assaulting him and damaging his video camera at New York's LaGuardia Airport, but no charges were filed or further action taken.

Harrelson said of the latter incident at the time: "I wrapped a movie called 'Zombieland', in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in character. With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie."