Gene Hackman Slaps Homeless Guy

It’s not often you see Gene Hackman’s name in the headlines these days, but this incident definitely got it there: Police say the 82-year-old actor slapped a homeless man in downtown Santa Fe yesterday, the AP reports, citing the Albuquerque Journal. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the man, Bruce Becker, approached Hackman and his wife as they were leaving a restaurant, threatened them, and called Hackman’s wife a “c**t.” That’s when Hackman slapped him in the face, and Becker called the cops.

Police determined the smack was self-defense, and no charges have been filed at the moment. "It looked like Mr. Hackman did this purely out of self-defense to protect himself and his wife," a police spokesperson tells E!. (More Gene Hackman stories.)