Jessica White, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model who dates Sean Penn, was arrested Saturday morning after she allegedly delivered a beatdown to a woman outside a New York City club.
White was charged with misdemeanor assault and released after allegedly yanking the woman's hair and striking her face with her hand, according to the New York Post. Witnesses said White went to hail a taxi after leaving a Chelsea club just before 5 a.m. While standing on a corner, she got into a dispute with "a 28-year-old woman" the Post reported.
According to the court complaint, White "pulled the victim's hair and struck [the victim] numerous times in the face with her hand, causing abrasions, swelling and substantial pain."
Fashion-industry insiders told the Post White is notoriously difficult and has changed agencies several times "because she's supposedly difficult to work with."
White has been represented by IMG Modeling, One Model Management, Wilhelmina Models and Elite Model Management, and recently re-signed with IMG.
White may have found her match in Penn, a notorious hothead. Penn was sentenced in February to three years' probation and 300 hours of community service for kicking a photographer. But he is also well known for working tirelessly for relief efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans and earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
Selected Reading: New York Post, jessica-white.com, Popeater.
