Names and faces
■ Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped drunken driving and reckless driving charges against Bruce Springsteen stemming from an incident in November, admitting that the rocker’s blood-alcohol level was so low that it didn’t warrant the charges. However, Springsteen pleaded guilty to a third charge, consuming alcohol in a closed area, the Gateway National Recreation Area. Better known as Sandy Hook, it is an Atlantic Ocean peninsula with views of the New York skyline. Facing a judge and more than 100 onlookers in a video conference, Springsteen sat next to lawyer Mitchell Ansell and admitted he was aware it was illegal to consume alcohol at the park. “I had two small shots of tequila,” Springsteen said in response to questions from an assistant U.S. attorney. According to a report written by park police at the time of the Nov. 14 incident, Springsteen told an officer he had done two shots in the previous 20 minutes but wouldn’t take a preliminary breath test before he was arrested. When he took a breath test at the park’s ranger station, Springsteen’s blood-alcohol came back .02, a quarter of the legal limit in New Jersey, prosecutors said. The case was heard in federal court because the park is considered federal land. U.S. Magistrate Anthony Mautone fined Springsteen $500, plus $40 in court fees. “I think I can pay that immediately, your honor,” Springsteen told Mautone. In an emailed statement, Ansell wrote that Springsteen “is pleased with the outcome” of the court hearing.
■ The Paris prosecutor’s office has confirmed that French actor Gerard Depardieu was charged in December with rape and sexual assault after authorities revived a 2018 investigation that was initially dropped. The prosecutor’s office addressed the charges Tuesday after the case was leaked to French media. A spokesman said that Depardieu, 72, was not detained when he was initially charged on Dec. 16. French media reported that the charges relate to allegations made by an actress in her 20s. An initial inquiry against Depardieu was dropped because of lack of evidence, but was later revived. French newspaper Le Parisien and broadcaster BFM TV reported that the woman accused Depardieu of assaulting her on Aug. 7 and Aug. 13, 2018, at his home in Paris. The two met when Depardieu led a master class at her school, BFM TV reported. The actress, who has not been named, first filed a complaint in August 2018 detailing the alleged rape and assault in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence. The probe was taken over by Paris investigators, but was dropped in 2019. Depardieu’s attorney Hervé Temime has previously said that the actor “absolutely denies any rape, any sexual assault, any crime.”