Leonardo DiCaprio Assault Lawsuit Tossed

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Posted: 20 years ago
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Leonardo DiCaprio Assault Lawsuit Tossed
Wednesday September 29 5:55 PM ET
A lawsuit targeting "Titanic" star Leonardo DiCaprio and two other men for their alleged roles in a street fight over "Showgirls" actress Elizabeth Berkley was thrown out by a judge Wednesday. DiCaprio, 29, and others were sued for $45 million by Roger Wilson, 44, who claimed DiCaprio encouraged his friends to attack him outside a restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side in the early hours of May 4, 1998.

Wilson, an actor who appeared in two of the "Porky's" movies, said one of DiCaprio's "posse" punched him when he confronted them about repeated telephone calls to Berkley, his girlfriend.

Judge Paula Omansky said the lawsuit could proceed against a fourth man, Todd Healy, who admitted he hit Wilson. Healy said he punched Wilson in self-defense when he thought he saw him reaching for something, possibly a weapon.

Wilson had gone to the restaurant just before midnight to confront Jay Ferguson, an actor and DiCaprio friend who had met Berkley for the first time the night before at the premiere of DiCaprio's film "The Man in the Iron Mask" Wilson's claim against DiCaprio that he aided and abetted the assault by encouraging the others to attack him turned on the star's alleged statement to the others in the restaurant to "go out there and kick his (expletive)." In dismissing the action against DiCaprio, the judge said Healy never heard the alleged remark, and therefore could not have been incited by it. She cited Healy's sworn statement that he was never in the restaurant, that he came upon the group outside, and that he decked Wilson in self-defense. A statement from DiCaprio's publicist said he is "grateful that the judicial system has finally resolved this case in a fair and just manner."

The judge also dropped the cases against Ferguson and another DiCaprio acquaintance, Kevin Connelly. Police investigated Wilson's complaint that he had been assaulted by Healy, but no charges were filed.

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