Daniele Bernfeld whom authorities say was attacked by Emile during Sundance Film Festival described the incident as 'insanely painful and absolutely terrifying.'
- Jul 3, 2015
AceShowbiz - New details regarding Emile Hirsch's alleged assault on a female Hollywood executive during Sundance Film Festival back in January emerged on Thursday, July 2. According to public records obtained by The Associated Press, Daniele Bernfeld described the incident as "insanely painful and absolutely terrifying."
According to investigative documents, Daniele, who is an executive for the Paramount Pictures subsidiary Insurge Pictures, was initially apprehensive about pursuing charges in the night of the incident on January 25 due to the "sensitive nature" of her work and Emile's high profile. She decided to pursue charges in the next day because her name and the incident had leaked out to public.
"I am fundamentally not OK with what happened," Daniele said of the night of the incident and red marks visible on her neck. "It was insanely painful and absolutely terrifying."
Prior to the assault, Daniele said Emile told her she was a rich kid who "has never done anything" and was just at Sundance to party. Emile allegedly told her, "Your parents are rich and you don't know what it's like." She then pushed him away and told him she was a studio executive and her mother was a public school principal.
Emile later returned and blindsided Daniele. "He basically grabbed me at the curve of the elbow, choked me up, threw me across the table, and I felt the front of my throat hit the back of my throat," she told a police officer.
A waitress told police that drunk Emile grabbed Daniele's hair and touched her before attacking her. A friend of Daniele who witnessed the incident told police he and another person pulled Emile off Daniele as he was choking her. "I have seen quite a few fights in my life, but this was pretty violent," said the friend.
Emile admitted having three or four drinks prior to the attack and acknowledged "mouthing off" a bit with Daniele, but he said he couldn't remember what really happened. "She started kind of causing a ruckus and I sort of started getting intervening and this happened," said Hirsch. "I don't think it was much more than that to be honest.... I think she had a go at me and I probably defended myself."
Emile, who was charged with aggravated assault and intoxication, has not entered a plea following two court appearances in Park City, Utah. He is due back in court on August 17 for a hearing in which prosecutors will lay out the evidence or, possibly, announce a plea deal.
