Tuesday, 3 May 2011

Fans and critics bicker over Cheryl Cole online after nightclub assault revealed in US

Cheryl Cole must face her past

Cheryl Cole will be joining Simon Cowell on US X Factor

Ready to impress viewers of the new US X Factor, 27-year-old Cheryl Cole is going to have to get used to her past catching up with her.

The feisty Geordie's conviction 8 years ago for assaulting a nightclub worker is no doubt something she'll be quizzed about by American journalists as she raises her profile across the pond.

'The working class-rooted Cole...has a rough history: she punched a washroom attendant in the face after they got into a fight,' wrote Nikki Finke on website Deadline.com recently - and reactions to the disclosure were mixed.

'Have you seen what she did? Or read the judge's comments that she
showed no remorse? You are more than welcome her, please keep her and
don't send her back,' wrote one critic.

But a fan added: 'Cheryl is a
wonderful person with a huge back catalogue of success. She will go down
a storm in America, as I'm sure she'll work hard to achieve her success
and dreams of US stardom! She has had some huge hits and number one
albums in the UK, so why can't she do it in the US? Give her a chance,
please guys!'

The Girls Aloud star - then Cheryl Tweedy - denied attacking toilet attendant Sophie Amogbokpa on 11 January 2003, saying she only
punched her in self-defence at the Drink nightclub in Guildford, Surrey.

Cheryl was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid community service and ordered to pay her victim £500 compensation plus £3,000 of prosecution costs.

Judge Richard Haworth called the assault 'an unpleasant piece of drunken violence'.

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