NEW ORLEANS — Actor and comedian Russell Brand must perform 20 hours of community service and pay a $500 court fee to resolve a misdemeanor charge over a confrontation with a photographer in New Orleans, where he was filming a movie in March.
Brand wasn’t in a New Orleans courtroom Thursday when his attorney, Robert Glass, entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf to a charge of simple criminal damage to property. The charge carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail.
Brand turned himself in to police three days after his encounter with a man trying to take his picture with a phone. Police said Brand grabbed the phone and threw it at a building, breaking a window.
“He’s a good guy,” Glass said. “He was harassed.”
A deal with the district attorney’s office calls for the case to be dismissed if the actor completes the service requirement by Aug. 31, Glass said.
“You’ll return with proof that Mr. Brand completed the community service?” Municipal Court Judge Sean Early asked.
“Correct,” Glass responded.
Glass said Brand may fulfill the requirement through his charitable work with people suffering from addictions.
“Some of it may be abroad in England. Some of it may be in California,” Glass said.
Brand’s publicists didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
In a Twitter posting after the incident, Brand wrote, “Since Steve Jobs died I cannot bear to see anyone use an iphone irreverently, what I did was a tribute to his memory.”
Brand’s film credits include “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek.” He has a late-night show on FX called “Brand X with Russell Brand.”
A judge granted him a divorce from singer Katy Perry in February.
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