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Hilary Pays For Forbidden Fruit
by Josh Grossberg
Mar 30, 2005, 10:00 AM PT
Call it Hilary Swank and the case of the forbidden fruit.
A New Zealand court on Wednesday slapped the two-time Oscar winner with a $142 fine after she failed to declare she was carrying an apple and an orange during a January visit to the country.
According to published reports, officials at Auckland International Airport found the hidden produce after the 30-year-old Swank flew in on a Jan. 15 flight from Los Angeles.
The thesp was subsequently notified that she had violated New Zealand's strict quarantine laws that require all international travelers to declare all food items, including fruits, to prevent exotic pests and diseases from potentially wreaking billions of dollars in damage to its agriculture and livestock industries.
As a result, Swank was handed a fine, but instead of paying it as many do on the spot, the Million Dollar Baby star decided to go a few rounds with an appeals court.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Wellington, Swank sent the department a letter explaining the snafu and taking responsibility, but noting she was no bad apple.
"After my 20-hour flight, I simply forgot I had one orange and one apple. I do apologize sincerely," the actress wrote in her defense.
(Maybe she had Insomnia.)
The mea culpa, however, failed to persuade the Manukau District Court, which authorized the penalty anyway in a closed-door hearing on March 19.
In addition to the $142 fine, Swank will have to pony up $21 for court costs.
When she's not acting the part of a fruit felon or training to be a boxer, the Hollywood A-lister is preparing to shoot Black Dahlia, an adaptation of James Elroy's 1940s-era crime thriller, being directed by Brian De Palma.
Swank will then segue into The Reaping, a horror flick about a myth debunker who investigates signs of the 10 plagues in a small Texas town.
Swank won Best Actress Oscars playing a cross-dressing youth in 1999's Boys Don't Cry and a female boxer being trained by Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby.
http://www.eonline.c...3,00.html?tnews
by Josh Grossberg
Mar 30, 2005, 10:00 AM PT
Call it Hilary Swank and the case of the forbidden fruit.
A New Zealand court on Wednesday slapped the two-time Oscar winner with a $142 fine after she failed to declare she was carrying an apple and an orange during a January visit to the country.
According to published reports, officials at Auckland International Airport found the hidden produce after the 30-year-old Swank flew in on a Jan. 15 flight from Los Angeles.
The thesp was subsequently notified that she had violated New Zealand's strict quarantine laws that require all international travelers to declare all food items, including fruits, to prevent exotic pests and diseases from potentially wreaking billions of dollars in damage to its agriculture and livestock industries.
As a result, Swank was handed a fine, but instead of paying it as many do on the spot, the Million Dollar Baby star decided to go a few rounds with an appeals court.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Wellington, Swank sent the department a letter explaining the snafu and taking responsibility, but noting she was no bad apple.
"After my 20-hour flight, I simply forgot I had one orange and one apple. I do apologize sincerely," the actress wrote in her defense.
(Maybe she had Insomnia.)
The mea culpa, however, failed to persuade the Manukau District Court, which authorized the penalty anyway in a closed-door hearing on March 19.
In addition to the $142 fine, Swank will have to pony up $21 for court costs.
When she's not acting the part of a fruit felon or training to be a boxer, the Hollywood A-lister is preparing to shoot Black Dahlia, an adaptation of James Elroy's 1940s-era crime thriller, being directed by Brian De Palma.
Swank will then segue into The Reaping, a horror flick about a myth debunker who investigates signs of the 10 plagues in a small Texas town.
Swank won Best Actress Oscars playing a cross-dressing youth in 1999's Boys Don't Cry and a female boxer being trained by Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby.
http://www.eonline.c...3,00.html?tnews
When are these stars going to learn that they ARE NOT above the law?!?!? They can't just go bringing fruit every-which-place. Fruit laws exist for a reason! Etc.
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