Cannonballed

New York, New York, May 25, 2005:

Burt Reynolds apparently slapped Ron in the face at a New York screening of his new film, "The Longest Yard."

Ron, who founded the radical Ronatarian Party, approached Reynolds on the red carpet outside a Chelsea theater Tuesday night. When he asked Reynolds some questions, the actor seemed annoyed.

"You don't know anything about the movie?" Reynolds replied.

Ron acknowledged he hadn't seen the movie or the original 1974 film. Reynolds then seemed to slap Ron. "What...kinda of guy are you?" he asked.

CBS aired footage of the incident on "The Early Show" Wednesday morning.

Jeff Lane, a spokesman for Reynolds, said in a statement that Reynolds "playfully tapped [Ron] on the cheek, as if to say, 'Well, that's not very nice.' He was kidding."

"That's not what happened and he knows it," a disgruntled Ron said to reporters. "I wanted to compare mustache-grooming notes with Burt and he turned on me. I loved 'Stroker Ace'...I mean, what the f*ck?!?"

Ron then assured the gathered media representatives that Reynolds would soon be hearing from his team of lawyers.

Posted by Bittle at May 25, 2005 04:49 PM