"Extremely Aggressive" Jonathan Rhys Meyers Sentenced for Drunken French Fracas

Tudors star is sentenced to one-month suspended sentence and fined $1,350 for 2009 airport bust, though is not present in court for the ruling

By Gina Serpe Nov 16, 2011 9:45 PMTags
Jonathan Rhys MeyersMunawar Hosain/Fotos International/Getty Images

Jonathan Rhys Meyers is "a fragile man," "a fairly weak person" and someone who "suffers from his demons." And that's his ally speaking.

In news that would sober anyone up, a French court today slapped the Tudors star with a sentence for his more than two-year-old skirmish at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport—an alcohol-fueled incident that not only saw the actor punch a waiter and threaten the lives of police officers and their families (zut alors was that a bad move) but also resulted, quite rightly, in his arrest.

So what's his sentence?

Considering what it might have been, not so bad.

After declaring the actor "extremely aggressive," a court in Bobigny slapped the Irish star with a one-month suspended sentence and fined him roughly $1,350 for the incident.

The 34-year-old was not present in court today, but his attorney, Vincent Toledano, was. He asked the court to dismiss the drunk and disorderly charges, enumerating the actor's less than flattering characteristics that led to his unfortunate bust.

Among other transgressions during his stroll through the airport back in June 2009, Meyers struck an airport barman and then launched into his insulting-and-threatening phase, telling three separate officers he would pay to have them and their families killed. Which is a no-no in any country.

As revealed in court today, Meyers apologized to them after sobering up in custody and blamed his alcoholism. He also said that he could not entirely recollect the events that unfolded and had offered compensation—though how much was not revealed—to his victims.

Despite the suspended sentence, Toledano nevertheless emerged from court unhappy with the ruling, and called the punishment "harsh," adding that Meyers had been "harmed by his fame."

Though more so by his inability to get help for his problems, we'd say.

The actor—who has been to rehab three times in recent years and who was hospitalized over the summer after allegedly overdosing on pills—faced similar charges back in 2007, when he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly at the Dublin airport, though those charges were ultimately dismissed.

Guess the luck of the Irish finally ran out.