Actress hits elderly woman in wheelchair
Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, November 09, 2006
Hollywood actress Denise Richards hit an 80-year-old woman in a wheelchair with at least one flying laptop Wednesday while battling paparazzi during the filming of her new movie at the River Rock Casino in Richmond.
Richmond RCMP spokesman Cpl. Peter Thiessen said Richards took and threw two laptops belonging to photographers who had come uninvited onto the set of Blonde and Blonder -- a movie Richards is currently shooting with Ladysmith native Pamela Anderson.
"Denise Richards recognized them [the photographers] and took exception," said Thiessen, who said he did not know what led Richards to become upset.
"She grabbed their two laptops and threw them off a balcony," he added, noting there appeared to be a history between Richards and the photographers.
Thiessen said the 80-year-old woman was one floor below Richards when she was hit but said she was not badly hurt and is not interested in laying charges.
Thiessen added that the photographers called police after hotel staff took away their laptops and refused to give them back.
On Wednesday night, a representative from the casino spoke to the media about the incident but refused to give any details.
"We had an unauthorized entry of some individuals onto the set of Blonde and Blonder, which is currently shooting on our property," said Howard Blank, vice-president of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation that owns River Rock.
"The alleged incident was some people coming onto the film set unauthorized and there was a bit of a ruckus," he said, adding the incident happened at about 6 p.m.
Thiessen said representatives of the film company agreed to pay for damages to the laptops and that no charges are going to be laid by anyone involved in the incident.
Blonde and Blonder is described as Legally Blonde meets Dumb and Dumber, as the two stars are chased by police and criminals after being mistaken for paid assassins.
Filming on the 19-day shoot began in October.
In the first days of shooting Anderson, Richards, director Bob Clark and the movie's producers dined in the private room of the casino's fine dining restaurant, Tramonto.
Vancouver Sun columnist Lynne McNamara reported at the time that Blank arranged for a television monitor to be brought in during dinner so the bunch could watch the Detroit Tigers' victory against the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of the World Series.
In addition to starring in the film, Anderson is also an executive producer.
Source:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...77e623&k=74112
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