Our eyebrows remained unraised when we heard that Naomi Campbell had allegedly attempted to scratch the eyes from a photographer's face while on holiday in Italy. After all, the batey supermodel has been accused of several violent outbursts, including three attempts to drub her assistants with telephones. But which other celebs have seriously short fuses?
Well, first of all there's the all-smiling, all-dancing Jude Law, who recently lost his temper with a female paparazzo when she snapped him coming out of clown college. "He hit me full on the face, it was a real stinger", meeped the tog. "It was very sore." But not as sore as Jude's ego, perhaps, as it's far from the first time he's decided to deal with the press with his fists.
And weirdybonk Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay is no better, because he's been accused of giving some shutter-happy snappers a drubbing on two separate occasions. "I'd had a few drinks", explains the prat in the hat. "So when they all moved in, I took a swing at one of them. It's no major thing. It's not like it happens every time I go out." Oh, Jay! When you gonna learn?
"Everyone knows about Alec Baldwin's behavioural problems", chirrups his ex-wife Kim Basinger. "They are, unfortunately, legendary." Not only has his own daughter come off on the 30 Rock star's bad side, but stage actress Jan Maxwell quit a play when he allegedly put his fist through a wall. Why? The air-conditioning wasn't high enough. Sounds like he needs more than air-con to cool his jets.
Want to know how to get Björk in a furious tizz? Say hello to her at an airport. The grizzly puffin-chomper lost her Icelandic cool in 1996 when a reporter held out a microphone and welcomed the singer to Bangkok – a cruel slur that ended up with the pair grappling on the arrivals hall floor. More recently, she attacked a photographer in Auckland. Army of Me? Barmy of me, more like.
Meanwhile, people wishing to stay on the right side of Christian Bale should make sure that they a) aren't related to him and b) don't appear in his line of sight. Not only was he arrested for allegedly attacking his mother and sister, but he dished up an expletive-laden tirade on the set of Terminator Salvation that was replayed around the world. Calm down, dear!
However, Christian Bale is but a pretender to Russell Crowe's throne as the king of Hollywood boors. A phone-chucker in the Naomi Campbell vein, Rusty was convicted of second-degree assault after lobbing a handset at a hotel concierge in 2005. "F*** me, I'm sorry", Crowe allegedly said to police, suggesting that he even struggles to be sincere in his remorse.
So much for friendly skies! Thin and crispy Supreme Diana Ross is a one-woman catalogue of plane reactions, having been detained at Heathrow for assaulting a security guard; accused of throwing a monstrous hissy fit at LAX when she couldn't find her luggage; and "hitting an airline employee with a hat box containing a small dog". Not one of our more grounded stars, sadly.
Roman Polanski has accused Faye Dunaway of having a noxious temper – even claiming that she chucked a cup of urine in his face on the set of Chinatown. And a Guardian interviewer's invitation to comment on the allegation some 35 years later made her blow her top. "I turned down the Mail to do this!" she shrieked, possibly while hitching down her knickers and scanning the room for a beaker.
Elton John is also well-known for his moods, with police backstage at the Concert for Diana once bearing the brunt."Do you know who I am?", Elton is reported to have carped, after they made his car pull over so the princes could pass. "I've been working all f***ing day and I need to get to my f***ing dressing room", he wailed, before being forced to make the rest of the journey on foot. Diddums!