Rod Stewart pleads out Florida battery case; Royal Variety Performance disappoints
Rocker-turned-crooner Rod Stewart just cleaned up his legal situation in Florida, wrapping up drama that began on the final day of 2019.
The 76-year-old and son Sean Stewart, 41, were involved in a 2019 altercation with a security guard who refused to let them into a private event in a children’s area at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach. Seems they weren’t on the list for the New Year’s Eve event.
The security guard, Jessie Dixon, told authorities at the time that he put his hand on the younger Stewart’s chest and told him to back up and make space, according to a police report obtained by the Associated Press.
Sean Stewart then shoved Dixon, and Rod Stewart punched Dixon in the rib cage with a closed fist, the report said. Security footage suggested the Stewarts were the “primary aggressors.”
When Rod Stewart is in residence in Los Angeles — which is to say, when he’s not on the road or in his native England or in Palm Beach, Fla., where he owns a third home about a mile up the beach from Donald Trump’s place — the 73-year-old rocker lives in a sprawling and lavishly appointed mansion in Beverly Park.
But what came of it all? Simple battery charges were filed against the two Stewarts. It was those charges that were resolved without the benefit of a jury trial last Monday, the AP reported, citing court documents released Friday.
“No one was injured in the incident and a jury did not find Sir Rod Stewart guilty of the accusation,” Stewart attorney Guy Fronstin said in a statement to the AP. “Instead, Sir Rod Stewart decided to enter a plea to avoid the inconvenience and unnecessary burden on the court and the public that a high profile proceeding would cause.”
Fronstin said the Stewarts face no jail time or fines and won’t be placed on probation.
In other Stewart news, social media — and the British tabloids — lit up after the singer’s performance of his recent single “One More Time” at the annual Royal Variety Performance failed to impress a number of viewers when it was broadcast Sunday night in the U.K.
Rod Stewart decided to “come out of the closet” about his prostate cancer diagnosis at a weekend event in London. The cancer was discovered in early 2016.
“Is it me or does #rodstewart look like a drunk uncle at a wake?” one viewer tweeted. Others wondered why he simply didn’t sing one of his classics, such as “Maggie May” or “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”
The Royal Variety Performance, a fundraiser, took place on Nov. 18.
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