Former 'Scandal' Star Columbus Short Breaks Silence on Arrests: "I Haven't Been Perfect'
The former "Scandal" actor explains his legal issues.
July 8, 2014 — -- Former "Scandal" star Columbus Short has broken his silence after a 2014 marred with multiple run-ins with the law.
"I think there's a time when your personal life gets magnified by who we are as celebrities," he told Access Hollywood in an exclusive interview that aired Monday.
As for his July 4 weekend arrest at the Katy Trail Ice House bar in Dallas, he said, "I was involved in no fight, I was with a group of people that were eating and I went to the bathroom, came back and there was an altercation ensuing. I guess the cops thought I was somebody involved in the situation and they grabbed me up."
READ: Former 'Scandal' Actor Short Arrested in Texas
He admitted to having some "choice words" for the police, for which he later apologized. He was arrested for public intoxication, according to The Associated Press.
It’s unclear whether he has entered a plea.
Short, 31, also addressed his March California altercation that resulted in an alleged battery charge against Short.
"There comes a time when you have to exercise patience," he said. "Sometimes you get yourselves in situation where you don't realize people are actually testing you. People are actually provoking you. When it was involving my wife, my estranged wife, who I loved dearly and wanted to protect, you are going to do what you need to do to protect that."
Short said his estranged wife Tanee Short was with him during the March altercation, and when asked by Access Hollywood actor Billy Bush whether the man was mouthing off at his wife, he said yes, "amongst other things."
He pleaded not guilty. He told Bush that case was dropped.
"I haven't been perfect. I have not been perfect, but I have not been all the things that have been in the press," Short added.
The actor also addressed his wife, who filed for divorce earlier this year and alleged that he "pinned her to the couch" during a dispute, according to court documents.
"Me and my wife, we're going through problems, serious, serious problems," he said. "However, the domestic part of it, I am not a physically violent man. ... I have never put my hands on a woman, physically, ever."
He told Bush where he and his wife stood now with the pending divorce and a restraining order she had taken out against the actor.
"The divorce is going forward, there is a restraining order that's in affect," he said.
Short announced in April that he would be leaving "Scandal" after three seasons, giving no explanation.
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