Catwoman (Pepper) Sprays Drunk Ozzy Impersonator On Hollywood Blvd [Video]

As depicted in the documentary Confessions of a Superhero, the area of Hollywood Boulevard between La Brea and Highland in Los Angeles is famous for its population of street performers who dress as popular characters from film and comic books. And as you know from previous ComicsAlliance coverage, these individuals are prone to violence.

Another episode occurred last Friday, this time between a Catwoman performer and a man who's been identified as an "Ozzy Osbourne." According to numerous Twitter testimonies and a televised report from NBC Los Angeles, the intoxicated "Ozzy" was attended by paramedics following a pepper spraying from Catwoman, whom he'd been allegedly harassing for most of the day.

"They were causing a lot of problems today on the boulevard," Catwoman told NBC LA. "He was rambling nonsense. I must have asked him at least 50 times to just go away."

Catwoman continued, "I'm giving you fair warning. If you do not get away from me right now -- you've been harassing me all day -- I have pepper spray and I will spray you in the face."

Street performers including Skeleton Willy Wonka and Insane Captain America backed up Catwoman's stories, and she said that other characters told her that she'd done them "a big favor."

The Ozzy character was examined by paramedics but not taken to a hospital, and no arrests were made.

For years, Hollywood Boulevard street performers have earned a living on tips from tourists who wish to be photographed with Superman, Spider-Man, Jack Sparrow, the Incredible Hulk, Marilyn Monroe and other pop culture icons. But as someone who's lived in the neighborhood for many years, I can confirm that they are sometimes a nuisance, and many of them are just really creepy and weird. Tourists and residents are routinely accosted for photos, and feuds between the characters are not uncommon. However, some of the characters can be entertaining, like the Spider-Man who climbs street lamps or clings to the walls of the Jimmy Kimmel Live building, from which he leaps out to frighten unsuspecting passersby.

Local business owners were successful in getting the local police to impose a kind of Watchmen-like Keane Act banning the costumed characters, but a court asserted the performers' rights on free speech grounds.

Obviously, the worst thing about the superhero panhandlers is their typically non-continuity behavior and appearance. For example, the aging Superman actor has had to augment his costume with artificial muscle mass through which copious amounts of sweat seeps horrifically. Most depressingly, the Batman performer is rumored among Hollywood residents to be someone prone to acts of violence and drunkenness, and has been arrested numerous times.

But pepper spraying a drunk rock n' roller seems absolutely in keeping with Catwoman's idiom, so, regardless of the circumstances, I'm forced to award this street performer with the appropriate points for authenticity.