An ongoing alleged assault case involving Djimon Hounsou and his ex-girlfriend came to head after she was arrested last week. On Thursday, (January 22), according to reporting from US Weekly, Riza Simpson paid a $2,000 bond and was released after spending under a week in police custody. She does not have a hearing date yet.
TMZ first reported that Simpson, Hounsou’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of two of his children, was arrested last Friday (January 16) and booked into the Atlanta City Detention Center. She was charged with “battery — family violence,” according to the court documents.
The “Gladiator” actor went to police in December, claiming that Simpson had struck him in the face with a closed fist after a dispute where he tried to kick her out of his residence. He told the cops that their children were home at the time, away from their parents upstairs, and that they didn’t see the alleged assault but may have heard it.
The warrant for her arrest, which came last week, was for assault and obstruction for allegedly providing false information to officers. Police said that the children were home during the arrest and could be heard crying.
Hounsou, 61, is a two-time Oscar nominated actor known for films like “In America” (2002), “Blood Diamond” (2006), Amistad, (1997), and “Gladiator” (2000). More recently, he has played roles in the “A Quiet Place” film series, and the “Rebel Moon” franchise. He has opened up about his financial struggles as an actor despite his success.
“With two Oscar nominations, I’m still struggling financially to make a living,” he said in an interview with CNN last year. “That’s a sign for you that systemic racism is not something you can deal with lightly, it’s so deep inserted into so many things that we do across the board.”
He also has one child with model Kimora Lee Simmons, who he dated from 2007 to 2012. The two never technically married, but had a commitment ceremony in 2009 in Hounsou’s native Benin.
