‘Avatar’s’ Sam Worthington, paparazzo both arrested after scuffle

“Avatar� actor Sam Worthington and a paparazzo have reportedly been arrested in New York after an altercation in which the photographer allegedly kicked the “Avatar� actor’s girlfriend, according to several news outlets.

How’s that for a “Clash of the Titans�?

Worthington, 37, and his girlfriend Lara Bingle, who sparked marriage rumors last week, were leaving a Greenwich Village bar on Sunday when photographer Sheng Li allegedly attacked Bingle and kicked her in the shin, the Associated Press reported.

According to the criminal complaint obtained by the New York Daily News, Bingle told police that Li had been following her on a public street for “four hours� and “kept getting in her way as she was walking down the street and was trying to trip her.� She also claimed that Li kicked her in the shin, the complaint said.

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The Australian actor is said to have retaliated by punching the paparazzo in the face and leaving him bleeding and scratched, police sources told the New York Post’s Page Six.

Worthington was later charged with assault and released pending a return to court Wednesday, AP said. The English-born actor was previously arrested for disorderly conduct in 2012 after an allegedly drunken scuffle a doorman at an Atlanta restaurant.

Li, 37, was also arrested and booked for reckless endangerment, assault and harassment. He was released Monday without bail, according to the New York Daily News, and ordered to return to court on April 1.

The photographer’s attorney, Ronald Kuby, told Page Six that his client was the one who was attacked by Bingle and that he did not realiate.

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“Ms. Bingle was the one that attacked him,� he told the column Monday at Li’s arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court. “She claims that Mr. Li was following her for four hours and then runs up and kicks her in the shins. In what world does that make any sense?�

He added that Li “was on the job taking pictures and Ms. Bingle got upset and ran halfway up the block and attacked him. Her large famous boyfriend ran up and punched him four times in the face and Worthington doesn’t even get charged.�

Kuby also asserted that Worthington “absolutely got unique treatment.�

A rep for Worthington did not immediately respond to The Times’ requests for comment.

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