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Legal
Perez v Peas charges dropped
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 19 November 2009
Assault charges against Black Eyed Peas manager Liborio Molina have been dropped after he sent an apology to Perez Hilton admitting that he punched the celebrity blogger during an altercation back in June.
As previously reported over and over and over again, thanks to various delays in the court case, Molina punched Hilton at the Cobra nightclub in Toronto after the MuchMusic Video Awards in the early hours of 22 Jun. Black Eyed Pea Will.i.am had approached Hilton to ask why he had written negative things about the group’s new single. I think it’s fair to say that the situation got out of hand after that.
Perez, real name Mario Lavandeira, updated his Twitter followers shortly after the alleged incident happened, though mainly because he seemed to think that posting messages on Twitter was the correct way to contact the police (which I’m pretty sure it isn’t, even in Canada). He said: “I was assaulted by Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke”. Followed by: “Still waiting for the police. The bleeding has stopped. I need to document this. Please, can the police come to the SoHo Met Hotel”.
Both Hilton and Will.i.am then issued video statements the next day – Perez saying the Will had hit him, Will saying otherwise. However, Molina, who Hilton also said had hit him a few times, was charged with assault after the attack and promptly sued by Hilton for damages of $25,000 for “battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress”.
A video of the punch-up quickly appeared on YouTube and although it wasn’t clear enough to see who was throwing their fists, the catalyst for things turning violent seemed to be Hilton shouting at Will.i.am: “You’re not a fucking artist … you’re a fucking faggot”.
In his written apology to Hilton, Molina said: “I apologise for what I did on 22 Jun 2009. Even though you engaged in highly offensive comments, including a homophobic slur to my clients, I acknowledge that these kinds of issues should not be resolved through a physical response”.
The blogger’s lawyers issued a statement saying that they and their client were unhappy with the choice of words, but ultimately accepted the apology, saying: “Although accepting the fact that he shouldn’t resort to violence, he attempted to say that there was a precipitating cause. A sincere apology is a sincere apology”.
In an email to the Canadian Press, Hilton added: “I am happy that Liborio Molina has accepted responsibility for his violent actions. I look forward to reading his letter of apology and he and Will.i.am can look forward to reading my in-depth thoughts about that awful night in my new book”.
Although the assault charges have been dropped, Molina must still adhere to a peace bond agreement which bars him from carrying weapons for twelve months, contacting Hilton or going within 100 metres of the Cobra Nightclub.
