Dark Secrets The Wahlberg Family Tried To Hide

The following article includes allegations of hate crimes and mentions of addiction.

Boasting an A-lister who somehow managed to transition from an underwear-flashing pop rapper to a credible Oscar-nominated thespian, a member of one of the biggest boy bands of all time, and several other successful actors, producers, and entrepreneurs, the Wahlbergs are one of modern Hollywood's most impressive dynasties. But the family of nine children that gave us "The Departed" star Mark Wahlberg and New Kids on the Block heartthrob Donnie Wahlberg are also one of the most troubled.

Indeed, the Wahlberg family history is littered with various crimes and misdemeanors, ranging from arson and armed robbery to assault and even attempted murder. Apart from their lengthy rap sheet, the Boston clan has also sparked controversies involving everything from gender pay gap disputes and shady business practices to supermodel body shaming and remarkably insensitive claims about the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.

Mark Wahlberg's rap sheet started accumulating in 1986 at the age of 15 in two separate incidents that took place just a day apart. First, Wahlberg and three of his pals chased three young Black kids while throwing rocks in their direction and screaming racial epithets at them. Then, the future Hollywood star encouraged another group of Caucasian men to do the same to a group of 9 and 10-year-old Black children on a school trip at the beach.

The "Boogie Nights" actor and his fellow perpetrators weren't convicted of either offenses, but instead given a civil rights injunction by a Boston judge. This essentially served as a warning that they'd face prison time if they were found guilty of committing any further hate crimes. In 2015, one of the kids Wahlberg and his gang targeted at the beach, Kristyn Atwood, told AP (via The Washington Post) that she still bears the pain and trauma of that day. "I was really scared. My heart was beating fast. I couldn't believe it was happening," she recalled. "The names. The rocks. The kids chasing."

Two years after being issued with a civil rights injunction, Mark Wahlberg broke it in astonishingly violent style. In 1988, the "Planet of the Apes" actor seemingly went on the warpath while reportedly under the influence of PCP, attacking not just one but two Vietnamese men in separate incidents.

First, Wahlberg knocked Thanh Lam unconscious with a 5-foot wooden stick while describing him as a "Vietnam f***ing s***," according to court documents, and attempting to steal beer from him. Later that very same day, he punched Hoa Trinh, a military veteran, in the eye, once again using racist slurs while doing so.

Although Wahlberg escaped prison for the first offense — instead receiving the civil rights injunction — he was given a three-month sentence for the 1988 incidents, for which the charges were reduced from attempted murder to felony assault. The future Oscar nominee, who later insisted that neither attack had been racially motivated, served just 45 days in jail before being released.

Despite serving 45 days in jail for felony assault, Mark Wahlberg didn't appear to learn his lesson. Wahlberg once again found himself in trouble with the law in 1992 when he got into a fight with a neighbor that left the latter with a fractured jaw.

According to court documents, Wahlberg repeatedly kicked Robert Crehan in the face "without provocation or cause" at a nearby tennis court as Crehan was being pinned on the ground by Wahlberg's reported bodyguard and friend, Derek McCall. The pair was subsequently charged with various offenses, including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. But after both parties settled a civil suit out of court, the criminal trial was dropped.

Wahlberg insisted that on this occasion, he was an innocent man. "People will do anything for money," he told the press at the time (via UPI). "I didn't have anything to do with the altercation. I was present, but I didn't take part." The Hollywood favorite also argued that he was targeted because of his high profile.

In the summer of 1993, Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg revealed that Mark Wahlberg — who was then more famous for being rapper Marky Mark than a serious actor — had gotten into a fight with members of the Material Girl's entourage. The surprisingly forgotten incident between Wahlberg and Madonna reportedly began when a friend of the Queen of Pop was labeled "a homo" by Wahlberg at a Hollywood bash. The "Daddy's Home" star then allegedly punched Guy Oseary, an executive from Madonna's company, Maverick Productions.

Wahlberg later admitted that he did break Oseary's nose, but that Madonna's side of the tale wasn't entirely true. "She called the f***ing cops on me," the Academy Award nominee claimed to Shortlist in 2012. "Told everybody this bulls*** story that I was doing s*** that I wasn't." The actor also recalled how the drama nearly cost him one of his first major movie parts in "Renaissance Man." But luckily for him, the film's producer, Penny Marshall, managed to overlook any alleged homophobia and violence.

Mark Wahlberg and Kate Moss might have steamed up countless ad breaks together while posing for Calvin Klein back in the 1990s. But it's fair to say that there's no love lost between the pair, much ado to how Moss feels Wahlberg behaved during their shoot.

While appearing on BBC Radio 4's "Desert Island Discs" in 2022, Moss told host Lauren Laverne that working with Wahlberg, whose own children have expressed their humiliation about his past, was a nightmare. "He was very macho and it was all about him," she said, adding that his large entourage left her feeling "vulnerable and scared." This wasn't the first time that the supermodel had expressed her negative feelings toward "The Basketball Diaries" star. In 2008, she remarked to Interview, "At the time he was such a d***head. He wasn't very nice."

The latter comments certainly riled the often shady Wahlberg, who, while chatting to Nuts (via Cosmopolitan), fired back in what many considered as a blatant case of body shaming. "I wasn't into the waif thing," he said, referring to his one-time co-star. "She kind of looked like my nephew. I mean she's beautiful — she's a very pretty nephew — but I'm more into curvy women."

In one of those remarkable twists of fate, Mark Wahlberg was initially booked to fly on the ill-fated American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11, 2001. But just 24 hours before the darkest day in modern U.S. history, the actor changed his plans. Of course, being one of Hollywood's most outwardly macho men, Wahlberg later argued that he'd have saved the day if his schedule had stayed the same.

"If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn't have went down like it did," the distinctly non-Tom Cruise fan told Men's Journal more than a decade after his near-miss. "There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'Okay, we're going to land somewhere safely, don't worry.'"

Understandably, Wahlberg, a man who's disliked by many celebrities, faced a huge backlash for arguing that he would have played the gung-ho action hero as convincingly in real life as he does on the screen. "I deeply apologize to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention," the former Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch rapper said in a statement (via Reuters), calling his previous comments "ridiculous."

In what many would consider to be a particularly egregious example of Hollywood privilege, Mark Wahlberg made headlines in 2014 for requesting a pardon from the state of Massachusetts for his 1988 conviction for assault, for which he served 45 days in prison for. "My hope is that, if I receive a pardon, troubled youths will see this as an inspiration and motivation that they too can turn their lives around and be formally accepted into society," the "Pain and Gain" star explained in his application (via The Guardian) about the reasoning behind such a wild request. As you'd expect, Wahlberg's argument didn't go down too well.

Indeed, Judith Beals, the state prosecutor who issued the actor with a civil rights injunction, pointed out that Wahlberg still hadn't acknowledged that his crimes had a racial motive. The actor's application was also protested against by an Asian-American activist group, 18 Million Rising. Two years later, the Boston native told The Wrap that he regretted ever bringing up the past: "I was kind of pushed into doing it, I certainly didn't need to or want to relive that stuff over again."

In 2017, the cast of "All the Money in the World" was required to undergo various reshoots following the sexual misconduct scandal that engulfed ousted star Kevin Spacey. Director Ridley Scott claimed at the time that all parties had essentially given their time for free. But it later emerged that its leading man Mark Wahlberg had, advertently or not, hugely benefited financially from all the drama.

Indeed, while his on-screen wife, Michelle Williams, pocketed less than $1,000 for her overtime, Wahlberg took home an extra $1.5 million after his team negotiated a new lucrative deal. A USA Today source also claimed to that the Boston native told producers that he wouldn't approve of Spacey's replacement Christopher Plummer unless he was handsomely rewarded.

Not only was Wahlberg accused of profiting from other people's misfortune and misery, his demands were also viewed as a blatant sign of Hollywood's gender pay gap problem. "This is so messed up that it is almost hard to believe," filmmaker Judd Apatow tweeted (via People) after the news went public, while Jessica Chastain also expressed her astonishment on the same social media platform.

Like many of his eight siblings, film producer Jim Wahlberg had a troubled adolescence. He had his first taste of alcohol at 8 years old and — although he refrained from doing so again for another two years — went on to develop a dependency on both drugs and drinking in his teens.

Speaking to America magazine in 2020, Wahlberg recalled the moment he stole $50 from a Y.M.C.A. locker to buy some Budweiser to share with a group of hippies and the life-changing effect it had on him. "Unlike the first time, when nothing really happened, this time I couldn't seem to get enough," he explained. "They would put their beers down, and I'd grab them to drink as much as I could, as fast as I could."

Wahlberg subsequently moved onto harder substances, and his life spiraled lower and lower. Luckily, during one of his stints behind bars, he managed to get clean and turn his life around. He has since tackled his struggles in various short films, his podcast, "The Bottom Line," and his autobiography, "The Big Hustle: A Boston Street Kid's Story of Addiction and Redemption." "I hope I can reach others with my story of recovery and help those struggling to realize they are not alone," he told Catholic World Report.

Jim Wahlberg's teenage problems weren't just confined to drinking and drugs, however. He regularly found himself in trouble with the law for other misdemeanors as well. Wahlberg was arrested for assault and battery while still in sixth grade, for example. Then, at the age of 17, he was sent to state prison after being convicted of an even more serious offense.

"My friends and I stole a sword and used it to rob a guy," Wahlberg explained to The Coming Home Network International. "We didn't hurt anyone with it, but I was caught and charged with armed robbery." The future film producer admitted that he was astonished at being given a sentencing of three to five years behind bars. "I had been stealing for almost a decade, and it didn't even occur to me that I could go to prison for it," he recounted.

Wahlberg spent much of his time in the maximum security prison isolated in "the hole." And from the sounds of it, this was the safest place to be. "I learned quickly that the inmates determined the rules, and most of the time, I learned them the hard way," he added. Unfortunately, this experience didn't exactly deter him from a life of crime.

Just six months after being given his freedom, Jim Wahlberg found himself back behind bars. This time, he was facing an even longer stretch of time. Indeed, the future screenwriter was given a nine-year jail sentence after breaking into the home of a man, who unbeknownst to the repeat offender and his criminal friends, was a serving police officer.

"I felt completely defeated and broken and I felt resigned to the fact that this was the way my life was gonna be forever," Wahlberg — who was under the influence during the incident, waking up in jail and covered in blood — told CBN about his second stint in prison.

Luckily, the cop whose house he broke into turned out to be an understanding one. In fact, he advocated for Wahlberg to be given a lighter sentence, acknowledging that rehabilitation rather than punishment would have a greater benefit. "I don't think I would have lived much longer in the streets," Wahlberg told Our Sunday Visitor. "I think God had his hand in that. The cop whose house I broke into could see I needed help. He went into court and said, 'Why don't we get this kid some help? He's a mess.'"

Compared to most of his brothers, the strange world record-holding Donnie Wahlberg has led a relatively law-abiding life. But there was one occasion during the height of his New Kids on the Block fame where it looked as though the singer might have to serve a significant amount of time in jail.

The drama started when Wahlberg, then just 21 years old, poured some vodka on the ninth-floor carpet of Louisville's Seelbach Hotel during an early-hours party with bandmate Danny Wood before setting it alight. Luckily, the fire that subsequently blazed was only a small one and did little damage to the building. But keen to make an example of the self-proclaimed bad boy, police charged the star with first-degree arson.

If found guilty, Wahlberg could have faced a prison sentence of up to 20 years. However, the charge was reduced to one of criminal mischief, but ultimately dismissed altogether once the singer filmed PSAs warning fans of the dangers of drinking, drugs, and starting fires. "I would like to apologize," the boy bander said at the hearing (via UPI). "I definitely accept responsibility for my actions in this very unfortunate incident."

The Wahlburgers food chain owned by Paul, Donnie, and Mark Wahlberg found its reputation called into question in 2016 when it was sued by several former employees over labor law violations. Five former workers at their Coney Island location claimed that they hadn't been paid the national minimum wage by the business and that the tips that would have made up for the discrepancy were also confiscated.

According to their lawsuit, workers didn't see a cent of the $3,000 tip left by the "Blue Bloods" cast at a private bash in 2016. The former employees also alleged (via People) that Wahlburgers "maintained a pattern and practice of regularly shaving compensable time from the weekly hours of all its non-exempt employees ... and paying them significantly fewer hours than they actually worked."

In a statement given to The Wrap, which proudly stated their commitment to treating people with respect and fairness, the chain didn't deny or confirm whether there was any substance to the allegations. Instead, they agreed to look into the matter to "help bring this matter to resolution."

Two years after being accused of keeping employees' tips, the Wahlburgers food chain once again found itself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. On this occasion, it was the closure of the Upper East Side branch in Manhattan, and more specifically, the reason why it was closed. The city's Department of Health found that the joint — co-owned by siblings Mark, Paul, and Donnie Wahlberg — had violated several health codes, including unsanitary food prep areas, lack of food protection certificate, and most startling of all, evidence that mice had been scuttling around the place.

"We are addressing the issue immediately, but at this time we do not have an exact timetable for when the restaurant will reopen its doors," a spokesperson for the chain said in an official statement (via Eater). Unfortunately, for the Wahlbergs and all their Manhattan employees, the restaurant never reopened its doors at all. A month later, it was permanently shut down after just 18 months in business.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, or has experienced a hate crime, contact the relevant resources below:

• Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
• Contact the VictimConnect Hotline by phone at 1-855-4-VICTIM or by chat for more information or assistance in locating services to help. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.