Actor Rick Moranis is “doing fine” after he was punched in the face, the Ghostbusters star’s agent said. Moranis was assaulted Thursday morning just a few steps from his Upper West Side home in New York City, police said. They later released footage from the scene and a high-resolution photograph of the suspect, a man wearing a black “I Love New York” hooded sweatshirt and carrying a backpack.
“Rick Moranis was assaulted on the Upper West Side yesterday,” his agent, Troy Bailey, told the New York Daily News Friday after the New York Police Department released footage of the unprovoked attack. “He is fine but grateful for everyone’s thoughts and well wishes,” Bailey added. The incident happened around 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning, when the suspect punched Moranis with a closed fist. The footage shows the man walking away calmly from the scene, with Moranis on the ground.
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๐จWANTED๐จfor ASSAULT October 1, 2020 at 7:24 AM, on Central Park West in the vicinity of West 70 St Manhattan. @NYPD20PCT.Reward up to $2500๐Seen him? Know who he is?๐Call 1-800-577-TIPS or๐ฒDM us!โ๏ธCalls are CONFIDENTIAL! @YourCityYourCall @NYPDDetectives @nypdchiefofpatrol pic.twitter.com/s06yNPBUBk
โ NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) October 2, 2020
The Honey I Shrunk The Kids star was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for pain in his right hip, head, and back. After he was released, he went to the 20th Precinct stationhouse to report the assault, police told the Daily News. Det. Kaz Daughtry and Officer Jonathan Dorrejo of the Community Affairs Rapid Response Team spoke with Moranis Friday and said he was resting. Moranis asked for privacy, and “just wants us to catch the bad guy and all of this to go away,” Daughtry said. “He just wants to stay home, he just wants to recover and he just wants peace of mind,” Dorrejo told reporters.
Moranis is beloved for his work in the 1980s and 1990s, starring in classics like Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and The Flintstones. In 1997, he took a break from acting to focus on raising his two children after the death of his wife, Ann Belsky, in 1991. However, he has slowly returned to public life in recent years, appearing in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Second City TV reunion for Netflix and signing on to star in Disney’s Shrunk, a new series based on the Honey I Shrunk The Kids franchise. He also starred in a Mint Mobile commercial with fellow Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds this year.
Breaking Update: Police release photo of the suspect wanted in the random and violent attack on actor Rick Moranis on the Upper West Side. https://t.co/WSNcD41r4f pic.twitter.com/pmcnLigRri
โ Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) October 2, 2020
The attack on Moranis inspired an outpouring of support on Twitter, both from fans and fellow actors. “My blood is boiling. Find this man. You don’t touch Rick Moranis,” Captain America actor Chris Evans tweeted.