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PUBLIC EYE
Bale denies he assaulted his mother and sister
July 23, 2008
The darkness around Batman has deepened: While audiences were shattering weekend box-office records in the United States, Christian Bale was in London, where his mother and sister reportedly leveled assault allegations against the star of “The Dark Knight.” Bale said yesterday the allegations were false, hours after he was arrested, questioned by London police and released on bail. He spent four hours talking with authorities, but was not charged. British media reported that Bale's mother and sister told police he assaulted them Sunday night at the Dorchester Hotel in London. The Sun newspaper said the complaint was filed by sister Sharon Bale and mother Jenny Bale a day before the European premiere of “ The Dark Knight,” but police did not question the actor Monday because they did not want to interfere with the movie premiere. “Christian Bale attended a London police station today on a voluntary basis,” read a statement from Bale's lawyer, Simon Smith, of the London-based firm Schillings. “Bale, who denies the allegation, cooperated throughout and gave his account in full of the events in question.” A woman thought to be Bale's sister Sharon told reporters “it's a family matter” from her home in Corfe Mullen, 110 miles southwest of London. A man who answered the door at the home of Jenny Bale in nearby Bournemouth said she did not want to comment.
SAVAGE SAYS HIS AUTISM COMMENTS MEANT TO INFORM
Conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage, who has described 99 percent of children with autism as brats, said he was trying to “boldly awaken” parents to his view that many are wrongly diagnosed. Parents of autistic children have called for Savage's firing after he described autism as a racket, creating the Internet site www.thepetitionsite.com to gather support. According to Savage, “In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, you idiot.' “ Savage offered no apology, and said greedy doctors and drug companies were creating a “national panic” by overdiagnosing autism, a mental disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate. The government estimates about 1 in 150 children have some form of autism. Savage's show can be heard locally on KFMB 760 AM.
LYONS, MANKIEWICZ TO HOST TELEVISION'S 'AT THE MOVIES'
Ben Lyons, a Hollywood reporter and film critic for “E! News” and others, and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz will take over “At the Movies” when its new season begins in September, Disney-ABC Domestic Television said yesterday. Current hosts Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper have both quit the show, which Ebert co-created with the late Gene Siskel, his original co-host. Don't look for the syndicated program's “thumbs up-thumbs down” ratings to return. Ebert shares a trademark lock on it with Siskel's widow, and has said they're hanging on to it.
– COMPILED FROM NEWS SERVICE REPORTS
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