Nick Lachey must attend anger management and AA meetings over photographer ... trends now
Nick Lachey has been ordered to attend anger management classes and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings nearly a year after he accosted a female photographer who was snapping pictures from her car.
Veteran celebrity photographer Jody Santos told DailyMail.com that she is still waiting for an apology from the singer, but doesn't think it will come anytime soon.
'Until this day, Nick hasn't taken any responsibility. He's justified it. He thought this was done, but it's not done,' Santos said in an exclusive interview.
'A personal apology was declined, then a written apology was declined. No one from his team has reached out and asked, ''Are you ok?'''
According to documents obtained by DailyMail.com, Lachey, 49, was charged with assault and battery under California Penal Code 242. Santos said that after months of hounding the Beverly Hills Police Department, Lachey was ordered to complete 52 sessions of anger management classes and attend AA meetings.
Nick Lachey has been charged with assault and battery after accosting celebrity photographer Jody Santos in March 2022
Santos, who has been in the paparazzi business for 18 years, recorded the singer approaching her car, reaching through the window and attempting to snatch her phone
Lachey, 49, was seen flipping off paparazzi after he was snapped leaving Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills on March 27, 2022
Santos said, 'He's had plenty of time to apologize, but instead he just figured I would go away. What he did was wrong. Attempting to bust his fist through my car window when all I was doing was taking photographs of him. He should have been thanking me for the free publicity. I mean, really. Talk about an oversized ego.'
The incident happened last year on March 27 in Beverly Hills when Lachey was leaving dinner with his wife and Love Is Blind co-host Vanessa . He went ballistic after discovering he was being photographed by Santos, who was sitting in her car across the street.
Video shows the former 98 Degrees singer approaching Santos's car, reaching through the window, attempting to snatch her phone and spewing profanities.
Santos told DailyMail.com that she is still waiting for an apology, but doesn't think it will come anytime soon
'In all my years of photographing celebrities, no one has ever tried to hit me. I am just relieved that I rolled up my window as fast as I did, otherwise he would have knocked me out. No doubt about it.'
Following the actor's outburst, Santos filed a police report and a complaint with Beverly Hills Police and after months of phone calls with the District Attorney's office, along with plenty of persistence, she got the result she wanted in February.
Under California law, prosecutors can offer defendants a 'pre-filing diversion' which allows them to keep a clean criminal record if they complete certain requirements such as anger management classes and AA meetings.
'He has to complete them within a reasonable time which is like a year or so,' Santos explained. 'If he fails to do so, they will move forward to prosecute him with non-compliance and he will get arrested.
'I kept calling the DA's office and told them that I thought he was getting preferential treatment, so finally they called me back and said, ''No he's not getting preferential treatment'' and explained that they have a program with the courts where they don't let misdemeanors just walk, they have to attend anger management classes and AA meetings.'
Santos, who has been in the paparazzi business for 18 years, explained how it is common practice to drive around Beverly Hills and snap photos of celebrities leaving fancy restaurants.
On the night of the attack, Santos drove by the popular Mastro's Steakhouse where
