[link]

"The Dark Knight" star Christian Bale confronted his mother on Sunday after she allegedly insulted his wife, the U.K.'s Daily Mail reported.

Sources close to the Batman actor, who was arrested on Tuesday on an assault claim, told the Mail that Bale "flew off the handle" at London's Dorchester hotel after Jenny Bale said "some outrageous things."

The Welsh-born actor, 34, was arrested and released on bail without being charged with assault, which he has denied.

...

The incident apparently comes at a time when his marriage to Sandra "Sibi" Blazic, a former model and makeup artist and the mother of the couple's young daughter, is enduring difficulties, according to the Mail.

"He has stresses in his marriage," the source said. "He can have a terrible temper. Instead of lashing out at his wife, he sometimes lashes out at people around him."

apparently "assault" in this context refers to people yelling obscenities.

I didn't believe the charges back then, but after listening to the audio of his freak out, I darn well bet he yelled at his mother and sister.

I actually didn't find the Bale freakout that appalling. I mean, he had a temper tantrum and said fucking a lot, which is unprofessional and makes him seem like a git, but it was nothing compared to, for example, the 'Alec Baldwin bitches out his teenage kid' thing.

True - but if you were to go off on a co-worker like that in a n office/library/etc, you would be so toast.

Christian Bale loses his SHIT.

More like "The DICK Knight", Bale.

Is it wrong that I wouldn't mind if he went off like that on his director (and nominal boss), but cast a hairy eyeball on the tirade being directed at someone further down the food chain?

When Lily Tomlin went ballistic on the set of I ♥ Huckabees, it was David O. Russell who ended up getting most of the blame, right?

Well, the DP isn't that far down the food chain, IIRC my heirarchy of film sets.

Yeah, DP ain't no Craft Services.

I'm with flea, I think. Film folk tend to be a bit more flamboyant than librarians and office workers; it's a facet of the job. It sounds like a regrettable tantrum requiring an apology and better behavior, but it's so far from showing up drunk to work or physical abuse--which other famous folk have done habitually--I can't be too shocked about it.