Someone is a cotton-headed ninny muggins.
If you’ve ever watched the 2003 cult classic, Elf, you know the plot: Buddy the Elf (played by Will Ferrell) is a human adopted by the Elf community at the North Pole. Upon finding out he’s adopted, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter (James Caan) who doesn’t know he exists. While in The Big Apple, he visits Gimbels department store. That’s where he falls in love with Jovie, an unenthusiastic Gimbels employee who’s working as Santa’s elf during the holiday season. Jovie’s boss, Wanda, is played by Faizon Love.
The character of Wanda (Fun Fact! The character was originally supposed to be played by Wanda Sykes but she pulled out at the last second) is someone who’s not particularly nice. In fact, he’s something of a d!ck for the first part of the movie, taking the form of the epitome of a competitive manager, who’s desperately concerned about the safety of his position.
Of course, I’m only saying this tongue-in-cheek, but I’m wondering if it’s possible that Love looked into his own anger issues to give his character life. Y’see, he’s apparently in the midst of being sued for assault with a deadly weapon that happened when he tried to check in at a Sheraton in San Diego and things didn’t go his way.
According to the lawsuit and criminal filing, Love went to the hotel in August, 2024, after apparently booking a room through a third-party app. When he arrived at the front desk, hotel staff told him they couldn’t honor the reservation because they didn’t have a vacancy. They suggested he contact the app for a refund.
The criminal court filing says Love immediately became aggressive. It said he used both hands to rip the credit card reader off its mount and threw it at the clerk, Elizabeth Renderos, hitting the left side of her head and breaking her glasses.
A day after the alleged incident, Love “warned” his followers about the third-party hotel-booking app, Hotel Tonight, in an Instagram post. Some of his followers commented about the event.
Anyway, the San Diego Police officer investigating the incident said in his report that he contacted the clerk the next day. She told him she went to the hospital after the attack and was diagnosed with a concussion.
The district attorney filed a criminal case against Love in late September, 2024. A warrant was issued for his arrest the following month. This is all coming to light now because Renderos is suing the actor, as well as multiple unidentified co-defendants for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress and property damage.
Renderos’ suit alleges that she suffered a concussion and a “visible bump behind her right ear” as a result of the incident. She also claims her glasses were broken that evening and that she continues to suffer “great” mental and physical “pain and suffering.” Additionally, Renderos’ complaint says she “incurred, and will continue to incur” expenses for her medical care, including hospitalization and future treatment.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Love has been charged with assault. Oh, not by a long shot!
He pleaded no contest to a 2017 misdemeanor charge of assaulting a valet at the John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
For that event, Love was originally fined $500 and given a 180-day suspended jail sentence. However, the victim in that case later filed a civil lawsuit against Love. The court ordered him (Love) to pay the valet $40,000 and later ordered him to pay an additional $8,679.50 in attorney fees incurred to enforce the settlement.
He also had trouble with the law, for beating people up when he didn’t get his way, in:
- February 2009
- possibly in January 2009
- as well as in June, 2007
On top of that, he was:
- sued for sexual harassment in August 2018 and
- arrested for domestic violence in June 2011
Son of a nutcracker! Nice guy, huh?
Back to Love’s most recent problem with the law, Renderos is seeking an unspecified amount in damages. She’s also requesting a trial by jury. A hearing is set for this August.
I think someone may need to ask Santa for anger management classes for this Christmas.
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