Ryan Phillippe denies assault, says he tried to carry ex 'like a baby'

Actor Ryan Phillippe. Photo / Getty Images

Ryan Phillippe has given his version of events in a deposition, insisting he did not assault his ex-girlfriend Elsie Hewitt as alleged - he merely "attempted to pick her up like a baby".

Phillippe, 44, was deposed by Hewitt's lawyers as part of her lawsuit against him for allegedly assaulting her in 2017.

The 23-year-old sued Phillippe for US $1 million in September 2017 after the alleged assault took place in July that year.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Hewitt claims Phillippe "violently threw her down his staircase as hard he could", before picking her up "like a doll" and "tossing" her down the stairs.

Phillippe has refuted her claims, saying she is trying to extort him.

According to the New York Post, he said the pair were at an "impasse" and Hewitt was refusing to leave "until she got into the bedroom".

"At one point, I thought that I was going to try to remove her from the premises and set her outside and close the door. Because I didn't know what else to do. And at that point, it hadn't occurred to me to call the cops. I'm a famous person. I didn't want to bring that kind of attention to me and my house," he says.

"And so I attempted to pick her up like a baby. Carrying. Like a child. With one arm under the back and one arm under the legs. And she was flailing. And I made it one step, and I fell back on my bottom, holding her. And that was it."