Crowe could lose US work visa

A conviction could stop Crowe from working in Hollywood.

LOS ANGELES - Russell Crowe's fears of being banned from working in the United States could become a reality.

"We can't speculate on what might happen, but prior convictions can play a part in adjudications for work visas," US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokeswoman Sharon Rummery said.

Crowe reportedly told police after his arrest he feared the incident could lead to him losing his right to enter the US and make movies.

Yesterday he said a combination of "jet lag, loneliness and adrenaline" had led him to throw a telephone across the lobby of the exclusive Mercer Hotel in New York.

He allegedly threw the phone at concierge Nestor Estrada in a rage at not being able to make a call to his wife, Danielle Spencer, in Australia.

Yesterday, Crowe insisted he was "not aiming at" Estrada when he threw the telephone but conceded his actions could leave him in jail and unable to work in the US again.

He said he was ashamed of the incident and admitted it was entirely his fault.

"I'm at the bottom of a well. I can't communicate how dark my life is right now," Crowe said.

"I will spend the rest of my life, if it takes it, trying to make it up with my wife."

 

In television interviews with MSNBC and on the CBS Late Show with David Letterman, Crowe chalked up the outburst to the strain of loneliness and frustration at being unable to get calls through to his wife in Australia.

"I'm extremely sorry for this whole incident and I regret everything that took place," Crowe told Letterman.

"The bottom line is I did something pretty stupid.

" ... this is possibly the most shameful situation I've ever gotten myself [into] in my life."

Poking fun at the actor as he welcomed Crowe to his show, Letterman picked up the telephone from his desk and moved it off stage.

Crowe faces up to seven years in a New York jail for allegedly hurling the phone at Estrada.

He has been charged with second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon - the telephone. He is due back in court in New York in September.

- AAP