Actor Emile Hirch Pleads Guilty to Assault: Into The Wild star Emile Hirch has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and sentenced to 15 days in jail, a $4,750 fine and 50 hours of community service for placing Paramount studio executive Daniele Bernfeld in a chokehold after drunkenly confronting her at a Sundance party.
Outraged Hollywood insiders argue that Hirsch is not yet a big enough star to merit such a short sentence for a physical assault, adding that its so important that we strictly enforce our nation’s celebrity stardom to punishment hierarchies or face the possibility that the criminal justice system as it pertains to celebrities could fall apart completely.
After the sentence was read, many in the courtroom expressed outrage, pointing out that Hirch had also served no jail time for making a film as dumb as Speed Racer. Anyway, as I see it, the real question here is - is it morally wrong to root for someone who’s just choked a film company executive? And because this is Hollywood we’re talking about, the answer would of course lie in whether it was a consensual or non-consensual choking.