Mark Burnett will not be attending the 2018 Emmy Awards after an alleged scuffle with comedian Tom Arnold.
While The Voice producer, 58, was accused of “choking” Arnold at a pre-Emmy Awards party on Sunday night, a source told The Wrap that Burnett’s decision to not attend had nothing to do with the comedian as he also didn’t attend last year’s award show.
The two were attending the Evening Before the Primetime Emmy Awards, an annual charity event in Los Angeles to raise money and awareness for the Motion Picture & Television Fund, at the time of the incident, Variety reported. They were walking into the party around 9:30 p.m. local time when the brawl went down.
Arnold, 59, has spent the past few months bashing Burnett on social media, insisting the Apprentice producer is protecting Donald Trump by refusing to release alleged tapes of the now-president saying the N-word during the filming of the NBC reality show.
Check out all of PEOPLE’s 2018 Emmys coverage here
The comedian is even hosting a new series on Viceland called The Hunt for the Trump Tapes, which premieres Tuesday — and he said the first episode centers on Burnett.
According to Arnold, Burnett “went apes– and choked me,” fleeing the scene soon thereafter “with his torn pink shirt and missing gold chain.”
“I’m waiting for LAPD,” Arnold wrote on Twitter.
Arnold claimed Kevin Bacon and his daughter Sosie Bacon witnessed the altercation. A rep for the actor did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for confirmation that they were present. Billy Eichner also shared a photo taken with Arnold “right after the fight with Mark Burnett” on Twitter. Eichner’s rep did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
While Burnett did not address the incident, his wife, Touched by an Angel star Roma Downey, claimed that Arnold started the battle. “Got this bruise tonight when Tom Arnold tried to ambush my husband Mark and me at a charity event,” she wrote on Twitter, sharing a photo of her bruised hand. “Is your TV show worth it Tom? Please stop.”
Arnold denied that on Twitter. “Bulls—,” he wrote. “You lie your crazy husband attacked me you psycho. I’m filing police report and suing you for defamation.”
The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Michael Che and Colin Jost, will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Monday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Source: Read Full Article