Hollywood actor Russell Crowe has pleaded guilty to having a hissy fit in a Manhattan hotel where he lobbed a phone at a concierge because he had trouble calling his wife from it.

The Gladiator actor pleaded guilty to third degree assault and has been sentenced to a conditional discharge, meaning he mustn’t get arrested for one year. This is going to prove rather tricky for the big brute as he likes nothing more than a bit of fisticuffs on a Saturday night, followed by a vindaloo and eight pints of Fosters.

As well as Russell Crowe’s (DVDs) conditional discharge, he has come to an arrangement with Nestor Estrada – the poor,
traumatised concierge – in the form of a fat cheque, originally reported to be for around $11 million, but more likely to be in the area of a low six-figure sum.

Following his arrest back in June, Crowe publicly apologised on the David Letterman show, saying the incident was:

“Possibly the most shameful situation that I’ve ever gotten myself in
in my life, and I’ve done some pretty dumb things in my life.”

Russell Crowe was pretty hard on himself there because – let’s face it -
he’s caused far more harm to the rest of the world than he has to the
now-very-rich concierge. Let us remind ourselves of some of these
highly shameful and disturbing instances:

His band 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts’s 1998 album Gaslight – we all make mistakes Russ, now just don’t do it again.

His early stage name was Russ Le Roq – Russ the Cock might have suited better.

The 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts 2001 album Bastard Life or Clarity – erm, yeah, he didn’t learn from the last time.

He attacked BBC executive Malcolm Gerrie in 2002 for cutting his poem from the BAFTA broadcast – he was clearly doing Russell, and TV
viewers, a favour.

The 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts 2003 album Other Ways of Speaking – for the love of God, stop, please!

Shady acting, beginning with a role in Neighbours, ending in…well, we’re still waiting for the end.

Read more:

Russell Crowe Pleads Guilty In Phone Case - Seattle PI

[story by Joanna Sim]