When Hugh Grant assaulted the paparazzi: “Bruised, battered, and covered in baked beans”

Posted On November 10, 2025November 10, 2025

For as many famous movies as he’s been in, Hugh Grant is arguably as famous for life away from the big screen.

The infamous moment he was arrested with a sex worker in Los Angeles is the stuff of tabloid legend. Then there are his various romantic pursuits, such as his long-term relationship with Elizabeth Hurley. He’s known for not seeming to care what people think of him, which makes him infinitely more entertaining than any of his heavily media-trained colleagues. 

Another noteworthy issue of Grant’s personal life is his relationship with the press. He was one of the most high-profile victims of the phone hacking scandal that rocked Britain in the noughties. He only recently settled a lawsuit against the publishers of The Sun newspaper, who he claimed used illegal methods to obtain private messages from his answering machine.

It’s not just in the courts that Grant has gone toe-to-toe with journalists. In 2007, a number of publications reported that the Notting Hill star had engaged in a physical altercation with paparazzo Ian Whittaker. Yes, that is the singular of “paparazzi”. According to the Irish Independent, the actor reportedly got annoyed when the photographer asked him to smile for a photograph. The star supposedly asked Whittaker, “Do you know who I am? I am a millionaire,” before unleashing an assault that left him “bruised, battered and covered in baked beans.” Hang on, what?

Grant would later shed some light on this incident on an episode of Alan Carr: Chatty Man. He’d gotten into a scrap with a photographer outside his home, a moment he described as akin to his fight with Colin Firth in Bridget Jones’s Diary.

“I went back into my house where, as chance had it, some drunk person the night before had left a sort of Tupperware packet of a baked potato and lots of baked beans,” he recalled. “I just picked it up to throw it away and then I thought, ‘No, I’ll use that as a weapon.’”

As shown in some truly incredible pictures, Grant did indeed wield the tub full of beans at Whittaker and one of his colleagues. It’s unclear whether or not they were Heinz, but you’d expect him to have the good stuff.

As funny as this all is – and it is very funny – this food-based fracas had some serious consequences for the actor. Grant was arrested for assault, later released on bail. Luckily, the Crown Prosecution Service found that there was “insufficient evidence” to charge him, sparing him from one of the most unique “What are you in for?” answers in the history of prison.

Celebrities taking on nosy photographers has been a long-running feature of pop culture. Everyone from Alec Baldwin to Britney Spears to Justin Bieber have been accused of getting physical when having their pictures taken. Marlon Brando once punched a paparazzo so hard that he would wear a football helmet to all future meetings.

While nobody deserves to get beaten up, paparazzi are pretty low down the totem pole of humanity. In the grand scheme of things, having some beans thrown at you by the guy from Paddington 2 isn’t the worst thing in the world.

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