Remember When Mark Wahlberg Was a Violent Racist Bully?
Mark Wahlberg recently filed a petition seeking to have a 1988 assault and robbery conviction permanently cleared from his record. But what of Marky Mark's other youthful indiscretions?
Remember when Mark Wahlberg allegedly yelled racial slurs and threw rocks at black kids?
In a 1986 civil rights action, the Massachusetts Attorney General sued Wahlberg and two friends, Michael Guilfoyle and Derek Furkart, alleging that Wahlberg—then 14—and his buddies yelled racial slurs and threw rocks at schoolchildren. The incident began when they noticed three black children walking home from school. Via the Smoking Gun:
As they were walking, defendants Michael Guilfoyle, Derek Furkart, Mark Wahlberg, and another white male began to follow them on bicycles. One of the defendants said to the Colemans, "We don't like black niggers in the neighborhood so get the fuck away from the area." The group of white males then chased the Colemans, using their mopeds.
During the chase, the group of white males yelled, "Kill the nigger, kill the nigger," and each threw a rock at the Coleman brothers and sister.
According to the suit, Wahlberg and his friends spotted the children with their teacher, a Mrs. Deshaies, out on a field trip the next day. Wahlberg and his friends allegedly yelled racial slurs and again threw rocks at the children. Two girls—one black student and one white student—were hit in the head. Wahlberg was also accused of throwing a bag of rocks at another white female student. The teacher had to summon an ambulance, which eventually "chased the defendants away from Mrs. Deshaies and her students."
Wahlberg agreed to a final judgment by consent, settling the case without admitting any guilt. He also made an agreement not to assault, threaten, intimidate or harass people because of their race, violation of which would result in criminal charges.
Remember when Mark Wahlberg beat a Vietnamese stranger with a stick while calling him a "Veitnam fucking shit"?
This is the incident detailed in Wahlberg's pardon application. In 1988, Wahlberg, now 16, attacked a Vietnamese man named Thanh Lam who was walking down the street with two cases of beer. Via the Smoking Gun:
Wahlberg was carrying a large wooden stick, approximately five feet long and two to three inches in diameter. Wahlberg approached Thanh Lam calling him a "Vietnam fucking shit," then hit him over the head with the stick. Thanh Lam was knocked to the ground unconscious. The stick broke in two and was later recovered from the scene.
After police arrested Wahlberg... he stated: "You don't have to let him identify me, I'll tell you now that's the mother-fucker who's head I split open," or words to that effect.
But Wahlberg committed a second assault before police caught up to him, court documents say.
Remember when Mark Wahlberg blinded another Vietnamese man in one eye almost immediately afterward?
As he fled from Thamh Lam, he ran into a second Vietnamese man, Hoa Trinh.
Wahlberg ran up to Hoa Trinh, put his arm around Hoa Trinh's shoulder, and said: "Police coming, police coming, let me hide." After a police cruiser passed, Wahlberg punched Trinh in the eye, causing him to fall to the ground.
Police arrived and Hoa Trinh identified Wahlberg as the person who punched him. Wahlberg was placed under arrest and read his rights. Thereafter he made numerous unsolicited racial statements about "gooks" and "slant-eyed gooks."
Trinh was permanently blinded in one eye. Wahlberg, who also had marijuana on him, was arrested for attempted murder and eventually pled guilty to two counts of criminal contempt. Though 16 at the time, he was charged as an adult and received a 90-day sentence, of which he served 45 days.
Remember when Mark Wahlberg wrote a memoir?
In 1992 20-year-old Wahlberg, now famous as Marky Mark of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, wrote a memoir. He dedicated it to his penis.
Remember when Mark Wahlberg beat a security guard so badly his jaw had to be wired shut?
In 1992, Wahlberg managed to avoid criminal charges for assault and battery when he reached a settlement with the victim just days before the trial was scheduled to begin. The victim, a 20-year-old security guard named Robert D. Crehan, said Wahlberg kicked him in the face repeatedly while Wahlberg's bodyguard, Derek McCall, held him down.
Crehan, who later had to have his jaw wired shut, said he was "satisfied with the [unspecified] settlement and didn't want to pursue the case any further."
Remember when Mark Wahlberg admitted to stealing cars and freebasing cocaine?
Wahlberg also claims he "stole cars, rolled rich kids and was freebasing cocaine by age 13," which he played up in a 2010 60 Minutes segment.
Asked if he was a good thief, Wahlberg told [Lara] Logan "I was pretty good. I was pretty good. I was pretty daring."
A rare positive influence for Wahlberg was [Father Jim] Flavin. The street punk and the parish priest struck up an unlikely friendship. Flavin saw a glimmer of Wahlberg's future one day during one of Wahlberg's many appearances in court before a judge.
"He was just pouring it onto the judge, you know, 'I'll never do it again.' You know, 'I'm sorry,' and he was wonderful. You know, he started tearing up, and the judge just melted and said, 'All right, you know, this'll be it.' And he turned around and started out. And he looked at me and winked. And I said, 'You little bugger. That was an Academy Award performance in the court room,'" Fr. Flavin remembered.
"Father Flavin says that he could barely see you over the steering wheel when you were driving around, waving at him from stolen cars," Logan told Wahlberg.
Now a successful actor, producer, and director, Wahlberg's only recent assaults on unsuspecting members of the public have aired on HBO. In his pardon application, he emphasizes his charitable endeavors—many of which involve at-risk kids—and says his past has prevented him from working with law enforcement to further those efforts. Wahlberg, a restauranteur, also notes he's had trouble obtaining a California concessionaire's license because of his record.
"Remember When?" is a series in which we remember things long forgotten.