Mark Wahlberg’s Real-Life Legal Troubles, Explained

Mark Wahlberg was just 16 years old when he became involved in yet another racially charged incident in Boston, his hometown. In April 1988, Wahlberg attacked two Vietnamese men, hitting one with a five-foot-long stick and punching the other in the eye. In both cases, he was accused of yelling racial slurs at the men. Multiple sources, such as The Smoking Gun, suggest that Wahlberg even bragged about his actions to the police officers after he was arrested.

Wahlberg was charged as an adult and ended up serving 45 days of a two-year jail sentence. Years later, in 2014, he requested a pardon from the state of Massachusetts for the assault. Expressing remorse for his past actions, he acknowledged that he was influenced by a bad crowd during that period of his life. Johnny Trinh, one of the victims of the 1988 attack, supported Wahlberg’s pardon request. “I would like to see him get a pardon,” Trinh said in an interview with the Daily Mail. “He paid for his crime when he went to prison… He has grown up now. I am sure he has his own family and is a responsible man.”

In a 2016 interview with TheWrap, Wahlberg confirmed that he had personally apologized to Trinh and his family. Reflecting on the pardon application, he expressed regret, stating, “I was kind of pushed into doing it… I certainly didn’t need to or want to relive that stuff over again.”