Tough guy actor RUSSELL CROWE insists he was totally in the right when he roughed up a British TV executive. The GLADIATOR (2000) star threw 51-year-old Malcolm Gerrie against a wall and verbally blasted him after director Gerrie cut part of his Best Actor acceptance speech from the TV broadcast of Sunday's (24th February 2002) BAFTA awards. And despite taking a lambasting in the British press for his behaviour, the Australian actor feels no remorse.

He insists, "He's not battered, he's not bruised, but I'm quite sure his ears are still ringing. Sure, I gave the guy a poke in the shoulders. He'd been trying to explain to me his problem with time, I was trying to explain to him that my problem was lack of respect. I have very little remorse for what I said. It wasn't about violence, it was about passion. I don't need or intend to apologise. Do I still think days later that the point I was making was valid? Absolutely. "

He continues, "Quite frankly, as the producer of a television awards show if you haven't allowed for at least two minutes per speech towards the end of your show, then you have done a very incompetent job. I'll grant you that my delivery may not have been perfect, but these are very adrenalised situations. "

Source: WENN