'I was brutally and maliciously assaulted': Kong director recalls Saigon bar fight

By Quoc Thang, Vu Vi   September 11, 2017 | 09:25 pm PT
Authorities are taking the case seriously after Vietnam's tourism ambassador was hospitalized with head injuries.

The director of the latest Kong movie who got caught up in a bar fight in Saigon last weekend has said he "was a victim" of the melee.

"I was brutally and maliciously assaulted by a group of several men," Jordan Vogt-Roberts wrote in a letter to the U.S. embassy. Neither the embassy nor the consulate was immediately available for comment.

Police in the city have yet to resolve the case, and are investigating camera footage from the XOXO club in the downtown District 1 to track down the people involved in the fight at 2 a.m. on Saturday, which sent Vogt-Roberts to hospital with a bleeding head.

A short video released to the media on Tuesday shows chaos and women screaming in the bar.

Media reports earlier said he was punched in the face and had a glass bottle thrown at his head.

The director has not filed an official police complaint, but authorities are taking the case seriously because the person involved is not just any foreigner.

The American director is Vietnam’s tourism ambassador, a three-year title he was given by the culture ministry in March when his movie hit local theaters. The ministry has urged an investigation and sent a representative from Hanoi to gather updates.

“Kong: Skull Island” was filmed in February last year in the central province of Quang Binh’s colossal caves, the northern province of Ninh Binh and the world-renowned Ha Long Bay. It grossed VND170 billion ($7.48 million) at the local box office and has become one of the most successful movies in the country's history.

Vogt-Roberts, 32, returned to Vietnam recently to attend the VTV Awards, the Vietnamese version of the Emmys, in Hanoi last week.

He was scheduled to meet with tourism officials this week. It is not clear whether the meeting will be canceled.

 
 
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