Was Gene Hackman Right To Bitch Slap Homeless Dude?

Gene Hackman might be a senior citizen, but that doesn’t mean he’s not capable of defending his wife. The eighty-two-year-old was leaving a restaurant in Sante Fe, New Mexico this afternoon when a homeless dude approached and allegedly started talking shit. After the back-and-forth had sufficiently escalated, the random dude allegedly called Hackman’s wife a “cunt”, and good old Gene responded by bitch slipping the guy across the face.

The right hand ended the argument, but after both men went their separate ways, the homeless dude called the police. Authorities arrived on the scene not long afterwards and interviewed everyone involved. According to E! Online, they eventually determined Hackman acted in self-defense, and at this point, it seems unlikely the matter will be pursued any further.

Since the story first broke earlier this evening, reactions have generally fallen into two camps. A certain percentage of people can’t figure out why Hackman even bothered to engage with some homeless stranger, and a certain percentage of people think Hackman should be applauded for teaching some old school lessons. The world has changed a lot over the past few decades. Thirty years ago, a high percentage of men might have bitch slapped the homeless guy for using the c-bomb, but now, the risk of an arrest and the threat of a lawsuit always hang over all acts of physical aggression.

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Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.