American actress Hayden Panettiere is making headlines recently for a bad reason: she and her sometimes boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, were involved in a brawl outside of a hotel in West Hollywood. TMZ published footage of the two fighting… not with each other, but with another group of people on the sidewalk.
Apparently, the fight started inside the hotel after Brian Hickerson took offense at the other group not leaving a sufficient tip for a restaurant waitress. Maybe the actor and real-estate agent has worked in the food industry himself and took offense. For whatever reason, he was plenty mad, and one thing swiftly led to another.
Take it outside
As push came to shove, hotel security moved Panettiere, Hickerson and the other combatants outside where they proceeded to duke it out. At one point, Panettiere can be heard calling out the word “jail!” to Hickerson. This is likely because, as a convicted felon, Hickerson could easily be sent back to prison for getting arrested again.
The two have a troubled romantic history, and they only recently got back together after breaking up. During this brawl, they were pretty much Bonnie and Clyde and worked together as a team.
The fight started around midnight, and someone called the police. It only took a few minutes for law enforcement to arrive, at which point the fighting evaporated and everyone swiftly went their separate ways. The whole thing likely would have been quickly forgotten had not TMZ posted footage online.
Spinning the story
Once the fight footage went viral, Panettiere moved swiftly to try and minimize her involvement. It was a spokesperson for her who said the fight started over a poor tip to a waitress, and it was also pointed out that Hickerson was the primary combatant, and Panettiere tried to deescalate the conflict until deciding to start throwing punches herself.
The saying goes that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but this incident will likely put this theory to the test. Panettiere probably would rather be better known for her excellent acting work in “Nashville” and other productions than as a celebrity who gets in fistfights on the street. Time will tell whether this incident helps her career or hurts it and whether she chooses to say goodbye to Hickerson once and for all. For now, she’s keeping a low profile, but we’ll see what happens next.
