Nick Lachey’s temper has gotten him into hot water.
After a heated run-in with a paparazzi last year, singer-turned-TV personality Nick Lachey has been ordered to attend anger management classes and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as a condition of the pre-performance diversion program. requests from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.
The case report obtained by the Daily Mail shows that the “This I Swear” singer initially faced assault and battery charges against photographer Jody Santos in March 2022.
According to Santos, Lachey received no formal punishment until he relentlessly went after the Beverly Hills Police Department and accused them of giving the singer preferential treatment.
“Eventually they called me back and said, ‘No, you’re not getting preferential treatment,’ and they explained that they have a program with the courts where they don’t let minor crimes go undetected,” he told the agency. daily mail in an interview published Tuesday.
The district attorney’s office told The Times that Lachey has not been charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, but will complete anger management classes and attend 12-step meetings. If he successfully completes them, no criminal charges will be filed.
“A personal apology was rejected, then a written apology was rejected,” Santos continued in the interview on Tuesday. “No one on his team came up and asked, ‘Are you okay?’
“He had a lot of time to apologize, but instead he thought I would leave,” he said. “What he did was wrong. Trying to smash his fist through my car window when all I was doing was taking pictures of him. He should have been thanking me for the free publicity.”
The altercation occurred about a year ago in Beverly Hills as Lachey and his wife and “Love Is Blind” co-host Vanessa Lachey were leaving Mastro’s Steakhouse. Santos was sitting in her car across the street, taking photos of the celebrity couple.
The photographer told the Daily Mail that Lachey repeatedly hit his car window and feared it would break the glass.
“In all my years of photographing celebrities, no one has ever tried to hit me,” Santos said.
Videos which captured part of the incident shows Lachey angrily approaching Santos and smashing through the window and into his car, apparently trying to snatch the camera or phone from him. The photos also show Lachey repeatedly pulling pranks on Santos.
“He has to complete (anger management and AA) within a reasonable amount of time, which is like a year or so,” Santos said.
“If you don’t, they will move forward to prosecute you for non-compliance and arrest you.”
The “Masked Singer” season 5 winner tweeted about the incident the day after it happened, saying he and his wife were being harassed.
He also tweeted that he was not violent, although the Beverly Hills Police Department seems to disagree.
