Emile Hirsch was charged this week with felony assault for allegedly putting a female Hollywood executive in a chokehold at a party during the Sundance Film Festival in Utah last month.
The 29-year-old "Lone Survivor" actor could face up to five years in prison for the alleged assault on Paramount Pictures vice president of digital entertainment Daniele Bernfeld.
According to TMZ, the incident occurred at 3:52 a.m. Jan. 25 at the Tao nightclub in Park City, Utah.
Hirsch appeared to be intoxicated when the altercation began, TMZ said. The actor reportedly asked Bernfeld why she looked "so tough" and proceeded to say she was "a 'rich kid' who should not be at Sundance."
Things then escalated when Bernfeld moved away from Hirsch to talk with others.
"Bernfeld claims Hirsch 'pulled her across the table and onto the floor' and landed on top of her," authorities told TMZ. "While on top, [Hirsch] allegedly wrapped his hands around [Bernfeld's] neck and began to choke her. She said she felt as though 'the front and back of her throat were touching and she remembers things going dark.'"
Others at the party eventually pulled the actor off Bernfeld and held him until police arrived, but he was not initially arrested at the scene, TMZ reported.
"Emile consumed an enormous amount of alcohol on the evening in question and he has no memory of what happened," the actor's spokesman Robert Offer told TMZ Thursday. "Emile takes these allegations very seriously, and is devastated that any of this has occurred."
"A few days after the incident, Emile sought help and checked himself into an alcohol rehabilitation facility, where he remains today, to ensure nothing like this ever happens again," Offer continued.
Along with appearing in "Lone Survivor," Hirsch also starred in the television miniseries "Bonnie & Clyde" in 2013 and is reported to have scored the leading role in an upcoming John Belushi biopic.
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