How Mark Wahlberg served time after attacks on Vietnamese men as a teenager

Decorated film and television actor Mark Wahlberg is recognized worldwide for his success in a variety of dramatic and comedic roles. Many remember his early days as ‘Marky Mark’, the outspoken leader of the hip hop group ‘Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’.

But the actor’s youth before 1991 is a much more troubled story of drug addiction, criminal conviction, and regret.

Wahlberg was born on June 5, 1971 in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in the working-class neighborhood of Dorchester, the youngest of nine children. His parents divorced when he was young and at the age of 13 he was addicted to cocaine.

The ‘Shooter’ star dropped out of high school a year later at 14 and wrestled with drug use, theft, and petty crime until his eventual arrest at age 16.

Wahlberg’s first conviction came in June 1986, when the 15-year-old was arrested. for throwing rocks at black kids and yelling ‘kill the black! kill the black!

The next day, according to the rap police report, he was found with friends rounding up a group of white men and chasing one of the boys from the day before.

The group again began throwing stones, and the harassment only stopped when a teacher waved for an ambulance to come by.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts would recommend Wahlberg serve two years in Deer Island House of Correction for the abuse.

The Mark Wahlberg of the 1986 police reports seems almost unrecognizable to the polished Wahlberg, who on Sunday presented a Screen and Actors Guild (SAG) award to the largely Asian cast of “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

But, after nearly 40 years, the actor was recognizable enough for viewers to decry the decision to allow him to present the award.

MailOnline looks back at Marky Mark’s troubled past and his attempts at redemption since then.

Mark Wahlberg appears with his mother in a photo shared by the actor on Instagram.

Wahlberg did not immediately learn of the state recommendation in 1986.

Two years later, he was arrested again after attacking two Vietnamese men while under the influence of the hallucinogenic PCP.

The actor called a man “Vietnam f***ing s***” and knocked him unconscious with a five-foot pole.

Later that day, he punched a Vietnamese-American in the face.

Although he denied the attacks were related to race, officers reported that the would-be actor would use racist language to describe the men he attacked.

For beating Thanh Lam unconscious, Wahlberg was found guilty of violating his civil rights and received a civil rights injunction.

For the attack on Johnny Trinh, he was charged with attempted murder. Wahlberg was jailed after pleading guilty to felony assault.

The actor was released 45 days after serving his two-year sentence.

Ultimately, it was music that pulled Wahlberg out of his criminal world, aided by the success of his older brother Donnie Wahlberg, who contributed backing vocals to the boy band ‘New Kids on the Block’.

From there, Mark made the contacts to reform his life, leave Boston, and begin a promising career in music. But he still took the artist some time to mature.

1992 was a busy year for Mark, who is now 20 years old.

In August, he reportedly attacked neighbor Robert D Crehan.without provocation or cause‘, kicking the victim in the face and jaw while another man held him down.

The rap sheet reports that Crehan suffered a broken jaw, which had to be wired shut after the assault.

Even so, Wahlberg was able to continue to make mistakes. In December, he appeared on the British television show The Word and praised dancehall musician Shabba Ranks, who had said that homosexuals should be crucified.

And also in 1992, he published a memoir, “Marky Mark,” which opened: “I want to dedicate this book to my d**k.”

An adult Wahlberg admitted that he had some regrets from his youth. in a 2006 interviewHe said he no longer felt guilty for attacking middle-aged Vietnamese American Johnny Trinh, whom he punched in the eye in 1988.

“I did a lot of things that I regret and I certainly paid for my mistakes,” Wahlberg told ABC News at the time.

‘You have to go and say sorry and it wasn’t until I really started doing good and doing right, both for other people and for myself, that I really started to feel the guilt go away.

‘So I have no problem going to sleep at night. I feel good when I wake up in the morning.

Then-singer Marky Mark pictured on October 13, 1991 in Chicago, Illinois.

US hip hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, circa 1990 (Wahlberg R)

The stories feel far removed from Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, the Wahlberg-fronted Boston-based hip-hop group that formed in 1991 and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year with “Good Vibrations.” .

They feel worlds away from actor Mark Wahlberg, who carved out an illustrious acting career following his debut role on the television series ‘The Substitute’ in 1993. After appearing in a host of films throughout the 1990s , the actor earned a reputation for working on remakes of ‘Planet of the Apes’, ‘Charade’ and ‘The Italian Job’.

As he approached 40, the actor saying he planned to retire to focus on fatherhood, but instead began working on Ted and its sequel, Lone Survivor in 2013, The Gambler in 2014, and Patriots Day in 2016. By 2017, he headlined the list of the highest paid actors in the world.

Things were going well for the actor.

But the controversy erupted again in 2014 when he sought to expunge his criminal record. A judge denied the request. citing the seriousness of the crime and the damage caused. A group of Asian activists led protests against the appeal.

This was another turning point for the actor, who later said he regretted the decision.

“I didn’t need that,” he admitted. ‘I spent 28 years correcting evil. He didn’t need a piece of paper to recognize him. They pushed me to do it, I certainly didn’t need or want to relive those things again.

The actor had said in his clemency request: “I deeply regret the actions I took on the night of April 8, 1988, as well as any lasting harm I may have caused to the victims.”

“Since then, I have dedicated myself to becoming a better person and citizen so that I can be a role model to my children and others.”

Marky Mark performing for the KIIS FM concert with his group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch

Mark Wahlberg speaks onstage during the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

Something good came out of the protests, with Wahlberg able to make amends with Trinh.

“I was able to meet with him, his wife and his daughter and apologize for those horrible acts,” he said. saying.

The actor has gone to atone for his past, helping to improve the lives of inner-city children through the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation since 2001.

in a concise statement in 2014, he wrote: ‘I have not been involved in philanthropic efforts to make people forget about my past.

“Rather, I want people to remember my past so that it can serve as an example of how lives can be changed and how people can be redeemed.”

Wahlberg presented the award to the cast of Everything Everywhere All At Once on Sunday, February 26.