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Actress Thora Birch and her husband, Michael Benton Adler, were involved in a verbal altercation with an autograph seeker on Saturday.
The incident took place outside the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills following the BAFTA Tea Party.
Video footage captured the moment the confrontation escalated after Adler allegedly ripped up photos belonging to the man.
Adler claimed the individual had been bothering Thora throughout the entire weekend.
In the recording, Thora can be heard making a physical threat and asking the man if he was from Israel. The man clarified that he was from Puerto Rico and demanded payment for his damaged property.
The argument lasted for several minutes as Adler and the man exchanged insults.
At one point, Adler addressed the person filming the incident, calling the autograph seekers "bad people" and stating that he and his wife were simply trying to leave the area.
Despite the initial tension, a second video shows Thora eventually signing the man's pictures in an attempt to end the dispute.
The couple later provided a statement to the media to address the viral footage.
They expressed deep regret for how the situation escalated and explained that a professional autograph seeker followed them to their car from a private area.
They noted that Thora was trying to de-escalate the situation and apologized for any misunderstandings regarding her comments.
The statement also clarified Thora’s question about Israel, noting that she is Jewish and has close family in the country.
According to the couple, she was merely trying to identify the man's accent during the heat of the moment.
The incident has sparked a conversation about the aggressive tactics sometimes used by professional autograph hunters.
Thora remains a beloved figure for her roles in films like Hocus Pocus and American Beauty, and many fans hope she can move past this stressful encounter.
