Melissa Rein Lively, a 40-year-old American influencer and founder of the 'anti-woke' PR firm America First Public Relations, has admitted assaulting a woman at Bond Street tube station in London. The incident occurred on the evening of 11 October last year, when Rein Lively allegedly pulled a woman's hair in a 'forceful manner' during an altercation.
At Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, it was revealed that Rein Lively accepted a conditional caution for the assault. As part of the caution, she admitted the conduct amounted to a criminal offence and agreed to pay £910 in compensation to the victim. A charge of assault by beating was subsequently withdrawn. The court heard the compensation is due in July but has not yet been paid.
Prosecutor Lyndon Harris told the court that the incident involved two sisters walking towards the station with their children, one of whom was in a pushchair. The sisters noticed Rein Lively and a man, later identified as German national Philipp Ostermann, ahead of them. One sister believed Rein Lively may have been intoxicated. Rein Lively allegedly stumbled into the pushchair, prompting the woman to move back.
Rein Lively then grabbed one of the sisters by the hair and tugged it. The woman pulled Rein Lively's hair in return in an attempt to make her let go. Ostermann, 37, was also charged with two racially aggravated public order offences and a further public order offence against two alleged victims. He pleaded not guilty and was released on unconditional bail, with a trial set for November at City of London Magistrates' Court.
