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Mon Oct 6, 4:35 PM ET |
By Joal Ryan
Sometimes, as Ben Affleck may attest, it's handy to be hounded by the press.
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Affleck's publicist says there are "at least 50 paparazzi and others" who can document that the in-the-spotlight superstar was at his estate in Georgia on a day last month when a woman says he threatened her in North Carolina.
"This whole thing is absurd," publicist Ken Sunshine said Monday.
"This whole thing" is a misdemeanor warrant issued for Affleck's arrest on Saturday after Tara Ray, of Kure Beach, North Carolina, told a local magistrate that the Sum of All Fears star had "communicated threats" to her on September 25.
It is not known what Affleck, 31, is alleged to have "communicated" in the unspecified threats, or how he is alleged to have "communicated" them.
The actor's camp branded the accusations bogus.
"He's never heard of this person, he's never met her," Sunshine said of Ray, who, for her part, told the Associated Press she's been romantically involved with the actor since February 2002.
Sunshine said that on September 25, Affleck was at his 86-acre plantation near Savannah, Georgia, the actor's fortress of relative solitude since famously not marrying Jennifer Lopez as scheduled on September 13 in California.
Noting that Affleck has done little of late without a shutterbug nearby, Sunshine said, "there are at least 50 paparazzi and others who have been tailing him constantly for the past month." Among the recent Affleck actions documented by the press: His September 22 joint appearance with Lopez at a Georgia courthouse to process a gun-license request.
More infamously, the tabloid press was all over a visit Affleck, sans Lopez, paid to a Canadian strip club in July. Resulting stories in the National Enquirer, vehemently denied by the actor, alleged Affleck looked and touched. In that case, a resident exotic dancer backed up Affleck's statements in her own libel and slander lawsuit against the tab.
Kure Beach police said Monday they're "attempting to confirm certain information" regarding the arrest warrant. In the meantime, they've returned the warrant to the courts to see if anyone there is interested in serving the out-of-state actor. Police noted a local newspaper report that said officers were not investigating, nor searching for Affleck, was not entirely accurate, but declined to elaborate.
Ray, who could not be reached for comment Monday, told the Associated Press that she believed her life was in danger from Affleck.
"I'm not out for the publicity part. I just wanted it to be known in the public that he's very capable of doing this to me," Ray told the wire service Sunday.
She said she couldn't discuss the specifics of her case on the advice of her attorney. Then she told the A.P. she couldn't disclose the name of said attorney.
Per the magistrate's office in New Hanover County, North Carolina, where the warrant was issued, anyone can assert his or her constitutional right and request a warrant if that person believes a criminal act has occurred.
Kure Beach is a small (population: 1,507), coastal town near the oft-used Hollywood locale of Wilmington.
At least one local said there'd been no recent Affleck sightings there.
"Not that I know of. And I normally party it up in this town," said Donald Dine, who works at the Trading Post Fort Fisher convenience store. "[If he had seen him], I probably would've bought him a beer."
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