BATMAN WENT BATTY 'FOR WIFE'
BALE ERUPTED AT MOM'S 'OUTRAGEOUS' INSULTS
By LUKAS I. ALPERT
Last updated: 11:29 am
July 24, 2008
Posted: 3:46 am
July 24, 2008
Batman star Christian Bale doesn't rush to the aid of a damsel in distress only in the movies.
His hotel-room dust-up with his mother and sister started when his mom insulted his wife - causing him to "fly off the handle," according to reports.
Jenny Bale, 61, set things off by saying some "outrageous things" about her son's wife, Sibi Blazic, Sunday at the five-star Dorchester Hotel in London. It was the night before the European premiere of Christian's blockbuster superhero flick "The Dark Knight."
Bale's mother and sister Sharon, 40, later filed a complaint with police saying he assaulted them. Some reports have said Bale, 34, shoved his 61-year-old mother, perhaps knocking her to the ground, an allegation he denies.
The London Sun reported that the two women had gone to the hotel so that Sharon could ask Bale for a $200,000 loan, and that the actor refused.
"Christian was stressed, but he didn't lay a finger on anyone. Instead, he flew off the handle and cussed his mother," a close friend of Bale's told The Daily Mail of London. "He just got very loud because his mother was saying some very outrageous things about him and his wife."
The big screen's Caped Crusader came in for questioning the day after the red-carpet gala opening. Bale has not been charged, but suffered a public-relations black eye at a time when his career is soaring high on the wings of the box-office smash.
"Christian's attitude is that this was his mother's fault because she became very provocative in an argument they were having," the friend told The Mail. "Things got out of control and he now says he wishes he just left the room."
The film opened in the United States to rave reviews and took in a record $158.4 million in its opening weekend.
The success of the film helped fuel the fight - because the throngs of fans and press outside the hotel meant Bale could not just walk away, the friend said.
"Normally, Christian would just call a friend and go out to a pub to cool off. But he was literally trapped into this confrontation with his mother and sister because there was an army of fans and paparazzi outside," the friend said.
The harsh words from his mother - a former circus clown - came at a time when Bale was experiencing some difficulties with Blazic, 38, a one-time model and assistant to actress Winona Ryder whom he met on the set of the 1995 film "Little Women."
The pair married in 2000 and had a daughter in 2005.
Both Bale's mother and sister have acknowledged an incident occurred at the hotel but have declined to discuss it further.
Bale late night attended the film's premiere in Barcelona, Spain, where he didn't comment.
