Alan Ritchson is finally talking about the neighborhood fight that made news all over the world. He says the only reason he is not in jail is because he decided to wear a body camera that day.
The ‘Reacher‘ star, who is known for his big 6’2″ frame and action movie roles, said the whole thing was the “scariest thing I’ve ever been through.” However, he was not scared of getting hurt. He was scared because he thought the fight had just ruined his acting career.
‘Reacher’ Star Says Divine Intervention Made Him Wear Camera
It all happened back in March outside his home in Nashville. A neighbor named Ronnie Taylor stepped in front of Ritchson’s motorcycle while he was riding with his two sons. Luckily, Ritchson had bought a body camera a year earlier but had never used it. That morning, he felt like he had to put it on.
Related: ‘Reacher’ Star Alan Ritchson Caught on Video Allegedly Attacking Neighbor After Motorcycle Dispute
“I bought it thinking like maybe I’ll just use that and I put it away. Never once have I thought like, I need to put that thing on,” Ritchson said on Dax Shepard’s ‘Armchair Expert’ podcast. “I step into the garage that day and it was like somebody talked to me. It was like, where’s that thing?“
Ritchson is a Christian and he thinks God was looking out for him. “If anything makes you go, ‘Maybe God is real,’ it’s [that]. If I hadn’t had that, dude, I’d probably still be in jail. The cops came to arrest me that day and only had [a tape from a neighbor] to go off of. [My video] changed the course of my life forever.“
Alan Ritchson Explains Self-Defense After Drunk Neighbor Shoved Him
The actor said his new motorcycle was really loud and he was barely moving through the neighborhood with his kids. That is when Taylor stepped right in front of his bike. At first, Ritchson thought the guy was just curious, but things got bad fast.
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“I’ve never met that guy ever in my life. Never seen him before. He lied to TMZ about us. He wasn’t even there when we went up his street,” Ritchson said. The actor said Taylor’s story about asking him to slow down before was not true.
When the guy got physical, Ritchson said he had to protect himself and his children. “I get close to him and I smell alcohol and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s Sunday at like 11:00 a.m. like it’s 12. It’s like this guy’s drunk,‘” he said. The neighbor pushed Ritchson twice with both hands, knocking the actor and his motorcycle to the ground.
“At that point, there’s no more conversation. I’ve gotta protect me, and I’ve gotta protect my kids, and I’ve gotta get us off the street safely. That means getting him out of the picture. So, I hit the guy,” Ritchson explained.
Beyond the fight itself, Ritchson was terrified that the video would go viral and destroy his career. “I like to work. I don’t like things that are ill gotten. I don’t like bad press,” he said. He was scared the scandal would “tank his entire career.“
His wife Catherine was away at a wellness retreat at the time, so he was alone with the kids. “I had no way to contact her. I was the sole caretaker of my kids… calming them down, assuring them, ‘I’m not gonna get arrested, I don’t think,’ [with an] army of cops on my porch,” he said.
After looking into everything, the Brentwood Police decided Ritchson acted in self-defense and did not charge him with anything.
Alan Ritchson Still Angry After Neighbor Ruined Motorcycle Rides with His Sons
But the worst part of all of this was not the legal stuff. It was personal. The whole thing ruined something special between him and his kids.
“People talk about when you reach success you self-sabotage. I was like, ‘It was my self-sabotage’… and my kids had to experience that. My kids don’t want to ride with me anymore. He robbed me of that. F–k that dude,” he said, and you could tell he was really upset.
Ritchson has three sons and he said he still carries a lot of anger. “I can’t convince them to do it anymore,” he said about taking bike rides with his children. He does not blame them for not wanting to go.
“I have so much anger. I have so much resentment that I just can’t quite let go of. I have nowhere to go because there’s no real resolution there. I just decided to let it go,” Ritchson admitted.
For him, this whole thing shows that the scariest fights are not always the ones you see coming. And sometimes the smallest choices can make the biggest difference. Right now, Ritchson is promoting his new movie ‘Motor City.’ The fourth season of his hit show ‘Reacher‘ on Amazon Prime is set to come out in 2026.
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