Mark Wahlberg’s Most Controversial Moments: From Teenage Hate Crimes to the Michelle Williams Pay Scandal

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Mark Wahlberg’s Most Controversial Moments: From Teenage Hate Crimes to the Michelle Williams Pay Scandal

Not his finest moments. While Mark Wahlberg has gained success throughout his career, he has faced his fair share of controversies. The Boston native had his first run-in with the law as a teenager. In June 1986, Wahlberg and a group of friends were charged for chasing and throwing rocks at a group of Black children while yelling racial slurs at them. Two months later, a civil action suit was brought against the Ted star for the incident, but the case was settled in September of the same year. Two years later, Wahlberg committed another hate crime when he assaulted two Vietnamese men and made derogatory comments about them. The Departed actor was charged with attempted murder and pleaded guilty to felony assault for the 1988 attack. At the time, Wahlberg claimed that he was intoxicated and that the attacks were not race related. Since he was previously charged with the civil rights offense, the Uncharted star was found to be in contempt of court and was sentenced to a two-year prison sentence. He served 45 days. More than two decades later, Wahlberg sought out a pardon from the State of Massachusetts to have his teenage crime removed from his record. [jwplayer RUQYTnrU-zhNYySv2] “I am deeply sorry for the actions that I took on the night of April 8, 1988, as well as for any lasting damage that I may have caused the victims,” the Oscar nominee wrote in his 2014 pardon application. “Since that time, I have dedicated myself to becoming a better person and citizen so that I can be a role model to my children and others.” News of Wahlberg seeking a pardon earned him some backlash and was opposed by an Asian-American activist group and victims of Wahlberg's previous criminal incidents. The Fighter actor later revealed he regretted filing the paperwork. "It was one of those things where it was just kind of presented to me, and if I could've done it over again I would never have focused on that or applied," he recalled to The Wrap in September 2016. “I didn’t need that, I spent 28 years righting the wrong. I didn’t need a piece of paper to acknowledge it. I was kind of pushed into doing it, I certainly didn’t need to or want to relive that stuff over again.” Wahlberg made headlines again in 2018 when he was reportedly paid 1,500 times more than his All the Money in the World costar Michelle Williams when they reshoot scenes for the film after recasting Kevin Spacey amid his sexual misconduct allegations. The Other Guys star earned $1.5 million while Williams received a measly $1,000. Following the controversy, Wahlberg donated his extra earnings to Time’s Up legal defense fund in Williams' name. Keep scrolling to see Wahlberg's most controversial moments over the years:

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Teenage Hate Crimes

As a teen, Wahlberg was involved in two racially motivated attacks. The first one took place in 1986 with the Boogie Nights actor and his friends throwing rocks at a group of Black children while yelling racial slurs. Following the incident, Wahlberg and his friends got a civil rights injunction issued against them.

Two years later, the Transformers alum got in trouble again after he assaulted two Vietnamese men and was sentenced to two years in prison for it. However, he only served for 45 days.

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Assaulting His Neighbor

In 1992, Wahlberg reportedly attacked his neighbor who sustained a fractured jaw from the altercation.  

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Pardon Attempt

The Deepwater Horizon actor filed a request for a pardon in 2014 for his crime against the two Asian men in the 80s. The request was opposed by an Asian-American activist group and some of Wahlberg's previous victims. Wahlberg ended up apologizing to the victims and dropped the request. He opened up about the experience two years later.  

"It was one of those things where it was just kind of presented to me, and if I could've done it over again I would never have focused on that or applied," he recalled to The Wrap at the time. “I didn’t need that, I spent 28 years righting the wrong. I didn’t need a piece of paper to acknowledge it. I was kind of pushed into doing it, I certainly didn’t need to or want to relive that stuff over again.”

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Michelle Williams Pay Scandal

Wahlberg and Williams teamed up to star in the film All the Money in the World. Spacey also had a role in the movie but was let go after he was accused of sexual misconduct and was replaced by Christopher Plummer. Since Spacey had already filmed scenes, the project needed to complete reshoots.

It was revealed in January 2018 that Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million for the additional work while Williams took home less than $1,000. After receiving backlash, the Daddy’s Home star decided to donate his earnings.

“Over the last few days my reshoot fee for All the Money in the World has become an important topic of conversation,” he wrote via Instagram. “I 100% support the fight for fair pay and I’m donating the $1.5 million to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams’ name.”

Williams, for her part, spoke up about the pay disparity at a rally on Capitol Hill with Nancy Pelosi and members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus in April 2019.

“It’s the kind of story I would normally resist: the morality tale with a happy ending, or rather a happy beginning because that’s really why I’m here,” Williams said in her speech. “There won’t be satisfaction for me until I can exhaust my efforts ensuring that all women experience the elevation of their self-worth and its connection to the elevation of their market worth.”