Tom Daley’s Oscar-winning husband grabbed and twisted a woman’s wrist in a London nightclub in an argument over a split drink, a court heard.
Dustin Lance Black, 49, has denied the single charge of assault, which occurred at Freedom bar in Soho on 18 August last year.
Supported by his Olympic diving champion husband, the couple entered Westminster Magistrates Court holding hands and coffee cups to face the one-day trial.
The court heard Black had attended the venue with Mr Daley when there was an “altercation” with party planner and influencer Teddy Edwardes, where it is claimed he “made contact” with her wrist, causing her drink to be spilt.
As a result, she “went after him” and admitted to the police she had punched him in the back of the head, the court heard. CCTV of the incident showed the group arguing, before she pursued Black and struck him as he left the nightclub.
Influencer Terry Edwardes claims Mr Black twisted her arm in a Soho nightclub
(PA )
“Ms Edwardes has retaliated”, prosecutor Adrita Ahmed added, revealing that the former BBC3 presenter had received a caution in February over the incident for “going too far in self-defence”.
Taking to the witness stand from behind a screen, Ms Edwardes said that she and a group of friends, including Love Islander Amber Gill who she was dating, had travelled to Soho from east London, and had begun speaking to Mr Daley at the bar.
She described the initial conversation as “pleasant” and that the couple joined them at a nearby booth.
At one point, she asked security to move another man from the area where they were sitting, and she noticed Black “didn’t seem to be very happy with me”.
She later claimed the acclaimed screenwriter “wasn’t very friendly” and that he “shouted at me saying I’d made him feel uncomfortable from the moment I got there”.
Dustin Lance Black, centre, (Lucy North/PA)
(PA Wire)
She said she apologised to him and told him she did not mean to make him feel like that. Edwardes claimed Mr Daley tried to calm his husband down, telling him to stop.
An altercation ensued, before she alleged Black had reached out and twisted her wrist, causing her drink to spill down her. She described the twist as “very hard, really aggressive”.
“I don’t feel comfortable going to gay bars anymore, they were my safe space,” she told the court.
Ms Edwardes admitted punching the film director in the aftermath and told the court she attempted to apologise when police arrived.
“I went over to apologise but he wasn’t willing to apologise back,” she said.
She later posted about the incident on social media, calling Black a “d***head” and said: “Pretty muuch unprovoked he threw an entire drink over me in Freedom. I didn’t have a drink to throw back so I chose violence.”
Defence barrister Helena Duong read aloud a series of text messages in which Ms Edwardes had seemingly joked about the situation, including a response to an Instagram Q&A in which she had shared a meme of a topless chest with the caption ‘No Ragrets’.
In another social media post, she wrote “Imagine calling the police on someone and you end up being the one who is charged” alongside laughing faces.
Black, who won an Oscar for best original screenplay for 2008’s Milk, denies assault.
The case continues.
