Alan Ritchson was a hot topic of conversation in March when videos surfaced of the Reacher star in a heated confrontation with a neighbor. Months later, he finally addresses what happened from his point of view.
In March, a video surfaced online of the Reacher star and his children being confronted by an angry neighbor, Ronnie Taylor, in Brentwood, Tennessee. Taylor’s recollection of events detailed having started with the noise, revving of engines, and fast riding that was occurring on the street.
The neighbor claims that he went outside to ask Ritchson to slow down and was met with a physical altercation with the actor. Taylor had taken multiple punches with documented injuries. The actor’s recollection of events was different, and, after reviewing the footage from a body cam the actor was wearing, local police ruled Ritchson acted in self-defense.
In a recent episode of Dax Shepard‘s Armchair Expert podcast, Ritchson finally addresses what really happened, and what he calls the “scariest thing [he ’s] ever been through.” He claims that they were “putting along” and “hardly moving” when Taylor came out to confront him.
Ritchson details that the neighbor had “all of a sudden stepped in front of” him and his children on the street, and that’s when “it got weird.” He recalls the neighbor being “pretty aggressive” and was almost the same size as the actor. Above all, Ritchson revealed he smelled alcohol on Taylor’s breath. The Reacher star tried multiple times to leave and was soon “two-hand shoved off the bike.”
“At that point, there’s no conversation. I’ve got to protect me and got to protect my kids and get us off the street safely, and that means getting the guy out of the picture. So I hit the guy,” explained the Blue Mountain State star.
He adds that the experience has “robbed” him of bike rides, as his children can’t be convinced to ride them after what occurred. The actor does admit to having some anger and resentment towards Taylor over how the situation escalated. Especially as the actor was the “sole caretaker” of his kids and “calming them down, assuring them” he wasn’t going to get arrested, as his wife was on a retreat.
Ritchson didn’t face criminal charges after authorities verified what occurred through multiple recorded videos of the incident. When it occurred, the actor was terrified that his “career had tanked,” but was assured thanks to his decision to purchase the bodycam.
“If anything makes you go, ‘Maybe God is real,’ it’s [that],” he said. “If I hadn’t had that, dude, I’d probably still be in jail. The cops came to arrest me that day and only had [a tape from a neighbor] to go off of. … [My video] changed the course of my life forever.”
The actor also addressed Taylor’s own recollection of what occurred and of having gone public with the supposed injuries he sustained. Ritchson admits he had never met the man before and “lied to TMZ” about having asked them to slow down.
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