Entertainment

Ryan Phillippe: Model’s assault allegation is fabricated

He is being sued by 21-year-old Elsie Hewitt over the alleged domestic assault.
He is being sued by 21-year-old Elsie Hewitt over the alleged domestic assault. He is being sued by 21-year-old Elsie Hewitt over the alleged domestic assault.

Ryan Phillippe has claimed a model fabricated allegations that he attacked her while he was intoxicated with drink and drugs.

The Cruel Intentions actor, 43, is being sued by 21-year-old Elsie Hewitt for one million US dollars (£750,000) over the alleged domestic assault said to have taken place in his Los Angeles home.

Phillippe, who has two children with his former wife Reese Witherspoon, responded to Hewitt’s allegations in a document filed in an LA court.

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He claims she “fabricated” the account in order to “extort” money from him and to “gain publicity”.

“Phillippe was raised by women in a household where women’s rights, feminism and advocacy were very much at the forefront and he is sickened to have been falsely accused of domestic violence,” added his lawyer Shawn Holley.

Hewitt, in the lawsuit launched in September, said she and a friend entered his house using an electronic access code in the early hours of July 4 to pick up some belongings she needed for a job.

“Phillippe greeted Hewitt outside his bedroom, where he was discernibly drunk and high,” wrote her lawyer Keith Fink.

“The Importance of Being Earnest” Witherspoon
“The Importance of Being Earnest” Witherspoon
Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon (PA)

They had a private chat on his stairs but he became increasingly agitated and attacked her, it is claimed.

“He then braced his body and violently threw her down his staircase as hard as he could,” Mr Fink wrote.

She returned to the top of the stairs to grab her belongings but he struck, kicked and again “tossed” her down the stairs, the lawyer added.

Hewitt received hospital treatment and filed a police report, but charges have not been brought against Phillippe.

The actor, requesting the case be thrown out in the document filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last week, instead said she broke into his home and was “extremely intoxicated” herself.

Hewitt claimed they were in a “serious romantic relationship” at the time, but he has disputed this.