Black Eyed Peas Manager's Assault Charges In Perez Hilton Case Dropped

Perez Hilton
Photo: Frazer Harrison/ WireImage

Charges against Black Eyed Peas manager Liborio Molina have been dropped by Canadian prosecutors in a case involving his assault on blogger Perez Hilton. According to the Canadian Press Association, the charges were dropped on Wednesday, and Molina issued an apology to Hilton (born Mario Lavandeira) for the incident that took place on June 22 outside a Toronto nightclub. Molina is alleged to have punched Hilton in the face after the openly gay celebrity gossip blogger used a homophobic slur against Will.I.Am.

As part of the agreement that ended the case, Molina agreed not to contact Hilton except through his lawyer, not to carry a weapon for 12 months, not to come within 100 meters of Cobra NightClub, where the incident took place, and to donate $500 to Toronto's Red Door Family Shelter.

"I apologize for what I did on June 22 of 2009, even though you engaged in highly offensive comments, including a homophobic slur to my clients, I acknowledge that these kinds of issues should not be resolved through a physical response," stated the apology read by Molina's lawyer outside the courthouse.

Hilton's lawyers balked at the wording of Molina's apology, but accepted it nonetheless. "Although accepting the fact that he shouldn't resort to violence, he attempted to say that there was a precipitating cause," Hilton's lawyer, Brian Greenspan, responded. "A sincere apology is a sincere apology."

In an e-mail to the Canadian Press, Hilton, who had not yet read the apology, said he was pleased with the outcome of the case. "I am happy that Liborio Molina has accepted responsibility for his violent actions," he wrote. "I look forward to reading his letter of apology, and he and Will.I.Am can look forward to reading my in-depth thoughts about that awful night in my new book."

The response was much more sedate than the heated rhetoric that flew back and forth between Hilton and Will.I.Am in the days following the alleged incident, when the pair exchanged insults in online posts and videos. Hilton filed a $25,000 civil suit against Molina, alleging battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In the suit, Hilton claims he is seeking to protect his rights to free speech and claims Molina attacked him because he made critical comments about the Black Eyed Peas' new album, The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies).