Just about the only thing worse than waking up in the morning and realising that you're Rod Stewart must be waking up in the morning and realising that you're one of Rod Stewart's kids – so who can blame them for a spot of alleged violence?
Rod Stewart's 26-year-old son Sean Stewart is in a bit of bother thanks to a couple claiming that he and a group of friends started beating them and throwing bricks at their vehicle one night in April. And yesterday Sean Stewart had his day in court, where he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of throwing substances at a vehicle and one count of vandalism. Whether or not Sean Stewart did commit the crime, Rod Stewart must be worried stiff – now that one of his family has had his name linked to a brick-throwing incident, Rod Stewart fans will no doubt start throwing bricks at Rod Stewart during his concerts as a tribute to the man and his family.
Well, that'll be our story when we're inevitably caught doing it anyway.
When it comes to dysfunctional celebrity families, the Stewarts are resoundingly b-list. The O'Neals swing pokers at each other, fire guns at each other and tether each other to staircases like dogs, and the Richies have a daughter who drives into oncoming traffic on drugs and a father with a disturbing predilection for making blind women construct clay busts of himself. But the Stewarts? Rubbish dysfunction. A fetish for the Duchess Of Cornwall and a number of misguided engagements just won't cut it – so thank heavens for Sean Stewart, who seems to be the only one dedicated to making the family look like idiots. Allegedly.
Because while Kimberly Stewart is happy to rest on her laurels with a spot of invented liver disease, Sean Stewart is being accused of angrily hurling bricks at a couple in Hollywood. Tobalus and Ericka Stein claim that Sean Stewart and a group of hangers-on threw bricks at their truck in an unprovoked attack at 4am in April, and then assaulted them. After being arrested, and then charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism and throwing substances at a vehicle, Sean Stewart yesterday went to court, as E! Online reports:
Sean Stewart, the 26-year-old progeny of Rod Stewart, has pleaded not guilty to charges he assaulted a couple in the Hollywood Hills back in April by hurling items—including a brick—at their vehicle. On Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Catherine J. Pratt ruled that Stewart could remain free on $60,000 bail, but ordered him not to have any contact with his alleged victims. Stewart is due back in court Aug. 6, when a date will be set for a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to move forward with the case.
And even if Sean Stewart is cleared of the criminal charges, he still has to face a civil suit made against him by the Steins, who claim that Stewart's attack left them suffering from "shock, horror, fright, worry, grief, shame, embarrassment, anger and chagrin." That's right – chagrin, the only thing separating an alleged brick-throwing attack by the son of a 1970s popstar from a normal DVD viewing of The Grudge.
But, guilty or not, Sean Stewart should be congratulated for bumping up the dysfunction level of the Stewart family. Hurling bricks at innocent strangers certainly beats cancelling concerts and keeping the money, that's for sure. Of course, we're hoping that Sean Stewart is found not guilty in both the criminal and civil trials, because the last thing we'd want is for Daddy to go on tour to bail him out. That'd be a little bit like punishing the whole world, really.
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Wadey says
Sean has not got over the death of his father in the tragic TV aerial adjusting accident. If only he had followed in his fathers footsteps and taken over Emu I’m sure he would not now be in this pickle.