Actor Gene Hackman had given clothes, money and the odd ride to the homeless man he slapped in New Mexico this week, Fox News reports. 

It's a story corroborated by the homeless man, who confirmed that he'd received help from the Oscar winning actor, but it was the violent altercation that they didn't agree on. Bruce Becker, 63, said he was hit 10 to 12 times by the tough-guy actor, but Hackman says he slapped the man once. Becker said he told Hackman, "Gene, you are just another Clint Eastwood, you are nothing but an empty chair," an apparent reference to Eastwood's Republican National Convention appearance this summer. That's when Hackman went "ballistic" and began "pummeling" him, he told officers. Hackman, 82, told police Becker became angry when he refused to give him money, and that after some names were thrown, the homeless man's threatening movements lead him to give him a swift slap, at which point they both fell to the ground. Police say Hackman acted in self-defense and no charges have been filed.

TMZ had reported that Hackman "pimp-slapped" the homeless man, in a perpetuation of what can only be described as a ridiculous scene. We've only just seen the end of 'happy-slapping', please don't say we're in line for its deformed cousin, 'Hackman-slapping'. Contact Music denounces all types all violence. We're a tranquil bunch.