Dustin Lance Black Faces Trial After Pleading Not Guilty To Assault

Dustin Lance Black is to face trial after being charged with assaulting a woman at a London nightclub last year.

The Oscar-winning screenwriter, who is married to Olympian Tom Daley, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where a court official confirmed that the US filmmaker pleaded not guilty.

According to court papers, Black is accused of assaulting events planner and TV personality Teddy Edwardes – who fronts the BBC Three show Big Proud Party Agency – during a night out last year.

He has been granted unconditional bail until his trial begins in August of this year.

A spokesperson for Black said: “Mr Black will respect the process, and in the meantime will continue to focus on being a loving father and husband.”

Black is perhaps best known for writing the film Milk, starring Sean Penn as the pioneering politician Harvey Milk, which earned the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2009.

He has also written for the TV shows When We Rise and Under The Banner Of Heaven, as well as the historical biopic J Edgar.

Outside of the film industry, Black is also known for his relationship with Tom Daley, to whom he’s been married since 2017.

Earlier this month, the couple announced that they’d welcomed a second son, who they have named Phoenix Rose, via a surrogate.

The two were already parents to Robert Ray, known as Robbie, who was born in June 2018.

Black and Daley confirmed their new arrival in an announcement in The Times, which read: “Black-Daley on 28th March to Thomas Robert Daley and Dustin Lance Black, a son, Phoenix Rose.”