Thora Birch appeared to lose her cool over the weekend during a tense confrontation with a pushy autograph seeker in Beverly Hills.
In video obtained by the Daily Mail, the 43-year-old former child star can be seen screaming at the autograph seeker as her husband Michael Adler tries to pry her away from the man.
His efforts don’t seem to defuse the situation much, as Adler begins shouting at the autograph seeker shortly afterward and accusing the man of ‘threatening’ him.
At one point, Birch — who recently appeared along Imogen Poots in Kristen Stewart’s feature directorial debut, The Chronology Of Water — steps between her husband and the autograph seeker to ask if the man if he’s ‘from Israel.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Birch for comment.
The video appears to begin partway through the confrontation, which happened shortly after Birch and her husband had left the BAFTA Tea Party at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, so the beginning of the argument isn’t shown.
Thora Birch appeared to lose her cool over the weekend during a tense confrontation with a pushy autograph seeker in Beverly Hills
In video obtained by the Daily Mail, the 43-year-old former child star can be seen screaming at the autograph seeker as her husband Michael Adler tries to pry her away from the man
At one point, Birch — who recently appeared along Imogen Poots in Kristen Stewart’s feature directorial debut, The Chronology Of Water — steps between her husband and the autograph seeker to ask if the man if he’s ‘from Israel’; pictured Saturday at the BAFTA Tea Party
At the start of the video, Birch warns the autograph seeker, ‘I’ll f***ing knock you out.’
Then Adler pulls her back and steps in between her and the man, who appears to say, ‘You’re on video. You’re on video for that.’
‘Do I care?’ Adler seems to reply, and the autograph seeker responds, ‘You should.’
Then Birch’s husband raises his voice and shouts, ‘Are you threatening me?’
The autograph seeker denies threatening him as Adler repeats the question, before the autograph seeker then claims, ‘You hit me.’
‘What?! I didn’t hit!’ Adler replies, and as the man claims for the camera that he hit him before the video started, Adler hunches over with laughter.
Birch, who had walked farther down the block, then strutted back toward the autograph seeker and shouted at the man: ‘Did you just f***ing call him trash?’
Adler then interceded again and started gently pushing his wife away from the autograph seeker.
At the start of the video, Birch warns the autograph seeker, ‘I’ll f***ing knock you out.’ Then Adler pulls her back and steps in between her and the man, who appears to say, ‘You’re on video. You’re on video for that.’
Birch’s husband raises his voice and shouts, ‘Are you threatening me?’ The autograph seeker denies threatening him as Adler repeats the question, before the autograph seeker then claims, ‘You hit me’
‘What?! I didn’t hit!’ Adler replies, and as the man claims for the camera that he hit him before the video started, Adler hunches over with laughter
He and the autograph seeker both argued over who had touched the other person, and then Thora walked back to order the man to behave.
Adler and the autograph seeker both gestured to people out of frame to claim that they were the ones being accosted.
After the autograph seeker claimed that Adler had put his hands on him, Adler shot back, ‘Are you dead? You’d be dead if I hit you.’
‘You are threatening me!’ the man replied.
As Adler requested someone nearby to get rid of the man, the autograph seeker accused him of tearing his photos before the video had started.
‘Why did you tear my photos, motherf***er? Give me 30 bucks!’ the autograph hound replied.
Adler then took his jacket off and began to walk away down the sidewalk with Birch as the autograph seeker repeatedly yelled for them to pay him for his allegedly torn photos.
As the confrontation continues, Birch shouts, ‘I’m a nice person, but you went out of line, man!’
Birch, who had walked farther down the block, then strutted back toward the autograph seeker and shouted at the man: ‘Did you just f***ing call him trash?’
After the autograph seeker claimed that Adler had put his hands on him, Adler shot back, ‘Are you dead? You’d be dead if I hit you.’ ‘You are threatening me!’ the man replied
As Adler requested someone nearby to get rid of the man, the autograph seeker accused him of tearing his photos before the video had started. ‘Why did you tear my photos, motherf***er? Give me 30 bucks!’ the autograph hound replied
As they walk in front of a new building, a new man appears who urges both men to tone down the argument.
‘People live here,’ he tries to remind them.
As Birch and Adler get to the end of the block, the autograph seeker eventually turns around and waves his hand in a gesture of futility.
In a second video, the autograph seeker can be heard asking where Adler’s glasses were and seems to suggest that he and the person who was filming should grab them, but he sounds disappointed when the person filming informs him that a security guard picked up the glasses and gave them back to Adler during the confrontation.
Then the autograph seeker tries again and crosses a street to follow Birch and Adler, who now sounds furious.
But Birch grabs her husband and sternly tells him to go to their car while she will sign autographs that the man now has in his hand in order to end the confrontation.
While Birch proceeded to sign her headshots, Adler confronted the person filming and claimed that the autograph seeker had been hounding his wife ‘all weekend.’
‘For all you people out there, don’t listen to this stuff. These people are wrong. They’re bad people. All we were trying to do is walk out,’ Adler says directly to the camera.
As the confrontation continues, Birch shouts, ‘I’m a nice person, but you went out of line, man!’ The autograph hound then crossed the street to follow them, which elicited more shouts from Adler and Birch
But Birch grabs her husband and sternly tells him to go to their car while she will sign autographs that the man now has in his hand in order to end the confrontation
While Birch sign her headshots, Adler confronted the person filming and claimed that the autograph seeker had been hounding his wife ‘all weekend.’ ‘For all you people out there, don’t listen to this stuff. These people are wrong. They’re bad people. All we were trying to do is walk out,’ Adler says directly to the camera
The autograph seeker doesn’t seem to be totally satisfied with her signing the pictures, which he claims were ripped. ‘Take it as compensation and don’t be a d**k,’ Birch seems to say as the video ends
In a statement to TMZ, Birch and Adler said they were ‘deeply regretful’ for the incident. They claimed they were followed from a private area, and claimed Birch only asked if the man was from Israel because ‘is Jewish and has close family in Israel and was simply trying to place an accent’; pictured Saturday at the BAFTA Tea Party
The video ends as Adler walks back to his wife who is having a more muted argument with the autograph seeker, who doesn’t seem to be totally satisfied with her signing the pictures, which he claims were ripped.
‘Take it as compensation and don’t be a d**k,’ Birch seems to say as the video ends.
In a statement to TMZ, Birch and Adler said, ‘Thora Birch and I wanted to address the incident Saturday. We are deeply regretful for its escalation.
‘As we left an event, my wife, Thora, was accosted by a professional autograph seeker who followed us to our car from a private area. Thora was trying to deescalate the situation,’ they claimed. ‘She is Jewish and has close family in Israel and was simply trying to place an accent. Again, we deeply apologize for this being misunderstood.’
