Nick Lachey has reportedly been charged with assault and battery after allegedly attacking a female celebrity photographer in March 2022, and has been ordered to attend anger management and AA, according to the Daily Mail.
Lachey will reportedly be obligated to attend the anger management and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for a one year period, or he will face arrest for non-compliance by the Beverly Hills Police Department, the Daily Mail reported. Prosecutors reportedly gave the star an opportunity to take advantage of a pre-filing diversion program which maintains a clean criminal record in exchange for the completion of the designated courses and programs. Court documents reportedly revealed Lachey was charged with assault and battery under California Penal Code 242, the outlet noted.
“Until this day, Nick hasn’t taken any responsibility,” photographer Jody Santos said. “He’s justified it. He thought this was done, but it’s not done,” Santos told the Daily Mail. “A personal apology was declined, then a written apology was declined. No one from his team has reached out and asked, ‘Are you ok?”’
“He’s had plenty of time to apologize, but instead he just figured I would go away,” Santos added, the outlet reported. “What he did was wrong. Attempting to bust his fist through my car window when all I was doing was taking photographs of him. He should have been thanking me for the free publicity. I mean, really. Talk about an oversized ego.”
Video of the incident appears to show Lachey reaching into Santos’ vehicle and trying to grab her phone and apparently mocking her.
“I could smell alcohol on his breath for sure,” Santos said. “In all my years of photographing celebrities, no one has ever tried to hit me. I am just relieved that I rolled up my window as fast as I did, otherwise he would have knocked me out. No doubt about it,” she told the Daily Mail. (RELATED: Reality TV Star Kyle Chrisley Arrested For Aggravated Assault)
The following day, Lachey took to Twitter to respond to his actions.
“Last night, after enjoying a great dinner with my wife and our dear friend, the paparazzi harassed us as we walked back to our hotel. I clearly overreacted. I’ve been in this game long enough to know that their antics are sadly part of the deal. Stupid of me. Done,” he wrote, the outlet reported.
Santos disagreed with his allegations of harassment and reiterated that she had remained in her car. “Nick won’t be too happy when he gets snapped going to anger management classes,” Santos told the Daily Mail.