LOS ANGELES — Singer, actor and TV host Nick Lachey must now complete 52 court-ordered sessions of anger management treatment and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for one year, following a heated exchange with a paparazzo in L.A.
The ruling comes a year after the 49-year-old “Love Is Blind” host allegedly attacked a photographer, Entertainment Tonight reports. The conditions of the ruling are part of a diversion program that, if Lachey completes, “will result in no criminal charges being filed,” the Los Angeles District attorney explained.
In March 2022, celebrity photographer Jody Santos spotted Lachey out to dinner with his wife, Vanessa, and a friend, and decided to snap a photo.
“He flipped me off and then I heard Vanessa say, ‘Go get ‘em, open the door’ and then he started walking towards my car all aggressive,” Santos said in an interview Tuesday.
“I immediately locked my door and rolled up my window as fast as I could,” Santos continued. “He then started punching the window. I thought he was going to break his hand, that’s how hard he was hitting the glass. I am surprised he didn’t shatter the window.”
She also claims that Lachey called her a “p**sy mother f**ker,” and that she smelled alcohol on his breath when he shoved his arm through her car window.
Shortly after the initial incident, Lachey took to Twitter to defend himself and seemingly move past the ordeal.
“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,” he wrote. “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.”
Lachey also denied any accusations that he got violent or physical, saying that was “absolutely false.”
Santos says she expected an apology from Lachey’s team and even asked for one, but never received anything of the kind. She says she wants Lachey to know that what he did was “not OK.”
“Until this day, Nick hasn’t taken any responsibility,” Santos said. “It’s one thing to be violent towards a woman and call her foul names, and it’s another when you blame the other person and lie about what really happened.”
“Nick won’t be too happy when he gets snapped going to anger management classes,” she continued. “This all could have been avoided if Nick had just taken responsibility for his behavior.”
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