Celebrity Justice
Ryan's Lawyer -- Griffin Beat Ryan's Ass

UPDATE: TMZ has learned the L.A. County Sheriff's Department has referred Ryan O'Neal's arrest file to the L.A. County District Attorney for review. The D.A. must now decide whether to file charges against the actor.

Ryan O'Neal's attorney claims that Griffin O'Neal consumed alcohol just before the now-infamous brawl with his dad, "which could have contributed to his violent outburst."

In a news conference that ended just minutes ago, Ryan's lawyer, Mark Werksman, said that the actor "fired a shot in warning, not in anger" during the fight at Ryan's Malibu home Saturday.

Werksman says Ryan had been out celebrating Farrah Fawcett's 60th birthday, and when he came home, Griffin was there. Ryan asked Griffin to leave and Werksman says that's when Griffin went off.

Werksman says Griffin was the aggressor and Ryan "got the worst of it," adding that Ryan "was thrown to the ground and beaten." Werksman says Griffin beat his dad with a fire poker and Ryan suffered bruises on his arms and legs.

"Ryan will be completely vindicated and exonerated," Werksman added.



Tags: griffin o'neal, GriffinO'neal, ryan o'neal, RyanO'neal

Reader Comments

(Page 1 of 2) | 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

1. 5. Come on already!! Griffin is 42 YEARS OLD and living with DADDY and his knocked up girlfriend WHO IS 22? What the f***. Get a life you freeloader and you pregger girlfriend. I am sure this little freak had his Dad set up to screw him. Griffin has been a problem for this family since he was a child. KICK HIS ASS TO THE CURB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 1:42PM on Feb 7th 2007 by Vicki


YES, VICKI, YOU ARE CORRECT. Griffin the loser should have not been at his father's house - along w/the knocked up 22 yr old tramp of a girlfriend. Can't they find a decent trailer to live in together - out of our sight????

Posted at 2:47PM on Feb 7th 2007 by dt

2. Put 'em both in jail! the dad and son are trailer trash!

Posted at 3:48PM on Feb 7th 2007 by Rusty

3. I just hope that Farrah Fawcett was'nt around..she has gone through so much this past year and these idiots are probably making it hard for her to recover...RUN FARRAH RUN!

Posted at 6:10PM on Feb 7th 2007 by Rick

4. One son is a junkie, the other a drunk (that caused a guy's death while drunk years ago), Dad is a blow-hard who is probably still battling his own drug/alcohol demons...they are all so trashtastically tragic! Poor Farrah. What a way to celebrate her clean bill of health...

Posted at 4:28PM on Feb 7th 2007 by Jane

5. Ryan O'Neal is an abuser. He did drugs and drank with his kids. SH*t he has sex with his daughters friends. He is a real piece of S*** who needs to finally be punished for his actions. Look at poor Tatum and the abuse she has indured from that man.

Posted at 4:35PM on Feb 7th 2007 by msfanni

6. Both Griffin and Tatum had rotten childhoods. Ryan left their mother when they were young....and she eventually developed a bad drug problem. When Tatum starred in Paper Moon (she actually stole the show) Ryan used her to boost his own career. She became almost a psuedo girlfriend that he dragged around to parties....when she was still in grade school. During this time period he completely ignored Griffin. (Guess he coudn't help Ryan's career....). When Ryan got involved with Farrah Fawcett....he basically kicked Tatum to the curb (attention wise that is).... So....in a way.....he's reaped what he's sown.... You know....I like Ryan for standing by Farrah....but he sure didn't stand by his FIRST two children.....

Posted at 2:22AM on Feb 8th 2007 by Cindy

7. Poor Tatum...LOL

Miss Crack Head who can't even handle her own kids?

I wouldn't feel sorry for Tatum. Looks like Griffith and his girlfriend are finally going to come into some money. I'm sure Griffith will blow all of it on drugs and booze. All losers. Farrah should stay far away from this mess.

Posted at 6:08PM on Feb 7th 2007 by justin

8. POOR TATUM!!!??? Yeah right, shes the biggest piece of trash. She doesn't even have custody of her own kids. If you feel sorry for Tatum why don't you read what her ex john McEnroe has to say about her sorry ass. Griffin & Tatum should have been drowned at birth along with their druggie, alcholic dead mother. Man what a bunch of losers!!!

Posted at 5:08PM on Feb 7th 2007 by gigs

9. If in fact Ryan caused the physical harm to the prego gf, he needs to be up on charges, period, there is no amount of self defense that would warrant those injuries.

How come there are no marks on Ryan?..if he was getting beat up as claimed by his lawyer, that beating surely didnt merit a warning shot to be fired by him either.

Griffin may be a drunk and is no angel here, but I sense an outburst on Ryans part that got out of control..if so, he needs to go through the judicial system and face consequences if found guilty of serious jail time---like the rest of us would if we did domestic or other violence of this nature.

Posted at 7:12PM on Feb 7th 2007 by Peyton Place

10. They showed a clip on access hollywood today where Ryan was giving an interview and Griffin threw a can of something and hit ryan in the head while he was taping an interview...it looked painful. Griffin is 42, not 12. He has no respect for his father, and if he can't get along with his dad; he should stay away from him. Griffin is the one who hurt his girlfriend its not Ryan's fault if the idiot didn't watch out for his girlfriend. Ryan is way too old to be putting up with a bratty 42 year old. In hind sight when Ryan saw there was going to be trouble, he should have called the police right away. I guess the hollywood set don't like to call 911 cause it will be on tv the next day. If that were my son and he was 42, I would call the police on his butt and have him removed from my house. Addiction runs in this family; its sad to see. Gloria the lawyer pops up all over the place if there is something very public going on.

Posted at 8:17PM on Feb 7th 2007 by dellajean

11. This is the same Griffin who killed (manslaughter) Farncis Ford Coppola's son while driving a boat out of his mind fuc***- up.

Posted at 10:26PM on Feb 7th 2007 by Katie-K

12. Hollywood, please give Farrah Fawcett acting work so she can get a break from the crazy clan. She may have issues about aging but so does most of California. She's a good actress! Happy Birthday Farrah!

Posted at 6:38AM on Feb 8th 2007 by Trip

13. And so the truth of the matter is:

Who cares!, a dystfunctional family, one of millions, who cares!, so until the TV movie and book come out, I will add one more time, Who Cares!

Posted at 3:03PM on Feb 8th 2007 by Shemyasteve

14. The Apple never falls far from the tree........When is the world going to get the fact that our kids pay the price ..If Ryan O"NeiL had been a father in the beginning
he would not have these issues today!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 7:33AM on Feb 8th 2007 by Apple

15. Does anyone here remember that several years ago Ryan punched Griffin in the mouth and knocked out two of his teeth? There are times when every parent is upset with their kids - but that's assult no matter how you look at it. You know what they say about paybacks... This whole group is wacko.

Posted at 10:49AM on Feb 8th 2007 by P. Butera

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