Emile Hirsch reflects on 2015 assault: 'The worst moment of my whole life'

Emile Hirsch is reflecting on his 2015 assault of a woman at the Sundance Film Festival, which he called "the worst moment of my whole life."

The Into the Wild actor allegedly choked Paramount Studios executive Daniele Bernfeld and, per reports, required two people to pull him off of her while at TAO Nightclub in Park City. Hirsch, who was charged with felony assault and an intoxication misdemeanor, entered rehab following the incident and was later sentenced to 15 days in jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault as part of a plea deal in August 2015.

"It was scary because it was so wrapped up in binge drinking," Hirsch told The Independent about the incident in a recent interview. "I had no memory of what happened. So I'm reading the stuff the next day, like, 'What?' I was dumbfounded. Horrified. It's like if you drink too much and then you wake up and you've done this horrible thing."

Michael Buckner/Getty Images Emile Hirsch

He went on to describe the incident as "something that should have just never happened" at all.

"Sometimes people — not everybody — have these moments where you let yourself down or you let other people down," Hirsch said. "And you can say you're sorry and mean it and move forward, and try to be the best parent and make a living for yourself and still love your art and still love your family and your friends. And that's sort of what I've chosen to do. I think… I hope that I can be a better person as well."

He continued, "It was the worst moment of my whole life by far. The lowest. In the most public place possible. At the most famous film festival in America, you know?"

While he was "hesitant" to talk about what specifically caused the incident, Hirsch said that it led him to reevaluate his entire life.

"It certainly led me to do a lot of the emotional work and the therapy that I think I probably should have been getting when I was younger, you know what I mean?" he said. "Getting famous really young, having a harder time trusting people, I've been able to learn my own mechanics more, and do a lot of the work that I put off doing when I was younger because I was scared."

In addition to 15 days in prison, Hirsch was ordered to pay a $4,750 fine and complete 50 hours of community service. While in court in August, he admitted that he had no recollection of the incident but acknowledged that his actions were "completely wrong and reckless and irresponsible," according to the Associated Press.

"I have no excuses for not remembering," Hirsch added at the time. "I put those chemicals inside me."

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