Tom Daley’s Oscar winning writer husband Dustin Lance Black today declared he is ‘surprised and saddened’ to find himself in the dock for allegedly assaulting a BBC TV presenter in a nightclub.
Model Teddy Edwardes, 32, who stars in the BBC Three show The Big Proud Party Agency, claimed she had a drink thrown in her face by Black in the Soho gay bar Freedom last summer.
Dustin, 48, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today where he pleaded not guilty to assaulting Miss Edwardes by beating on August 18, 2022. He was bailed unconditionally until his trial on August 8, 2023.
Teddy, who founded a girls only club night called LICK, claimed that Mr Black, 48, threw a drink in her face after she asked another person in the venue to leave her table.
She then said that she gave him ‘a little tap on the back of the head’ in response, however a source close to the couple said that someone ‘punched’ Mr Black ‘in the back of the head’. In an Instagram post Teddy praised Tom Daley as ‘lovely’ for ‘trying to defuse the situation’.
Reacting to the court case over the row, Black’s spokesman said: ‘Mr Black was surprised and saddened to learn that after the other person involved in this unfortunate incident took responsibility and expressed remorse for a punch to the back of Mr Black’s head – which left him with a life altering concussion – a decision was made to now examine the matter of a spilled drink in a court of law’.
Tom Daley’s husband Dustin Lance Black was in court in London today where he denied assault. He is ‘shocked’ to find himself in court
Ms Edwardes claimed that Mr Black, 48, threw a drink in her face after she asked another person in the venue to leave her table in an Instagram post after the event
Teddy Edwardes is a model and TV presenter at the centre of the case
The model (centre) stars in the BBC3 show The Big Proud Party Agency, following a team of LGBTQ+ party agents as they plan events
He added: ‘Of course Mr Black will respect the process, and in the meantime will continue to focus on being a loving father and husband’.
Mr Daley and his husband, who married in 2017 and have two children together, had been drinking at the venue with Teddy Edwardes, 32, who stars in BBC3 show The Big Proud Party Agency, after having dinner at Avo Mario and watching a drag show at Chinatown’s Ku Bar.
Teddy later posted on social media claiming she was the one kicked out of the club and the police were called, but she said: ‘I have to add that Tom Daley was lovely throughout he was just trying to defuse the situation.’
The Metropolitan Police charged him with assault on February 17 this year.
Scotland Yard said officers were called to a club in Soho, in London’s West End, at around 12.30am on August 18 last year following reports of “an altercation” between a man in his 40s and a woman in her 30s.
“He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday April 27, where he pleaded not guilty,” it said.
“He will next appear at the same court on Tuesday August 8.”
Posting on Instagram last August, Ms Edwardes, founder of Lick events, said: ‘I went out for a couple of quiet drinks with my friends last night, nothing crazy, and I bumped into Tom Daley and his husband in Soho, who… pretty much unprovoked he threw an entire drink over me in Freedom.
‘I didn’t have a drink to throw back so I did choose violence, it wasn’t that violent, he got a little tap on the back of the head.
‘Tell me why he is crying outside saying it’s a targeted attack and that he’s traumatised and called the police, and I had to wait there for hours whilst the police were asking questions.
‘And now I have been cautioned and I have to go in for interviews’.
Ms Edwardes later posted online that Mr Daley, 28, was ‘lovely’ during the incident, and tried to ‘diffuse the situation’. Pictured, the couple in December 2021
Posting on Instagram last August, Ms Edwardes, founder of Lick events, said: ‘I went out for a couple of quiet drinks with my friends last night, nothing crazy, and I bumped into Tom Daley and his husband in Soho, who… pretty much unprovoked he threw an entire drink over me in Freedom.
She admitted the row had been over someone at their table
Today it has emerged that Dustin Lance Black has ended up in the dock over the alleged assault
The couple were at Freedom (pictured), a gay bar in Soho, when the alleged dispute happened in the early hours of the morning on August 18 last year
She added: ‘For everyone asking what happened, we basically invited them to where we were sitting and I bought them some drinks etc, everything was fine.
‘And then this random guy came and sat with us and my friend said they felt uncomfortable because they didn’t know who it was so I asked security if they could move them on…
‘The security came to move them on and Tom’s husband started going mad saying how unwelcome I’ve made him feel and that he was leaving, so I was like OK? If that’s what you want? Then got straight drink to the face.’
A source close to Mr Daley and Mr Black said that the couple were on a ‘date night’ without their then four-year-old son Robbie.
Someone punched Lance in the back of the head, the person who punched him was removed from Freedom by security who checked CCTV, it was reported to police who are looking into it,’ they told The Sun.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: ‘Dustin Lance Black, 48, of Southwark, was charged on Friday, February 17 with assault.
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