Rhys Ifans slaps man in face during party, Dominic Cooper also somehow involved

The best kinds of parties are the ones where some of the guests have double-barrelled names, some have had bit parts in The Bill or Hollyoaks and the rest are a nice mixture of drug users, drug dealers and people who like the smell of fame. They're the best because it means all those people can be in one place, which leaves all the other places for everyone else to be in.

Unfortunately though, the so-called apartyheid doesn't always work as well as it should do and tragically, innocent bystanders can sometimes get trapped inside one of these events along with all the important people. It was exactly this that happened early on the morning of Sunday 12th of January. Creative director of the King's Head theatre, Adam Spreadbury-Maher tells us more…

‘We were at the Groucho when we ran into Dominic [Cooper]. We were drinking and then we all went back to the [St Pancras] hotel. There were a few of us, all actors and performers. That was around 3am. We were in a hotel room with Dominic, then there was knock at the door inviting us to another party. Some girls took Dominic to the party and then he came back and said, “Come on guys, there’s a great party happening down here.”

'DOMINIC'S TINY SUITE'

‘It was about half four in the morning. Dominic’s room was in the eaves but this was a much larger suite but on the same floor.  

‘It was a massive, beautiful suite. It must have been the largest room in the hotel. It was Rhys Ifans and Anna Friel’s and there were between 30 and 50 people there.

'A FILM STAR'

‘I did not know who Rhys was but my friends told me he was a film star and host of the party. They invited us all in and were really lovely and then Rhys went mental and started on my friend.

‘He was slapping him round the face and shoving him. It was pretty terrible. It was completely random. Everyone was having a lovely time. We were invited in and then he just went silly about 20 minutes after  we arrived.

'HE WAS IN A BUBBLE'

‘He made a beeline for him and started shoving him saying, “What the fuck are you doing here? You’re a joker. Who the fuck are you?”

‘He slapped him quite a few times. I think he was trying to make himself feel like a big man. He went nuts. It was as though he was in a bubble and he didn’t realise people were watching.

'THE POLICE WERE TIRED'

‘We then left, got into a cab and went home. It was quite late. I called the police in the cab on the way home. I was livid. I said that my friend had been hit and I wanted to report it to the police. I believe I named Rhys. The police told me they couldn’t do anything about it until the morning.

‘I think it’s unreasonable someone can behave like that.’

An innocent man attacked by actor Rhys Ifans for no reason other than because he liked to party with celebs? Sometimes, it's as if there's no justice in this cruel old world at all. You're also probably asking what the Gillian Anderson and William Vintage BAFTA dinner gallery above has to do with any of this. Well, this was the event Rhys was at before the slapping occured, and these are the last known pictures of Rhys pre-slap. We can't see any evidence in them that would help the police in their enquiries, but maybe you will. Remember, there's a man's face at stake.