Willis sues photographer for defamation

Los Angeles (Reuters): Actor Bruce Willis sued a photographer for 1 million dollar in damages on Monday, claiming the man defamed him by charging that star of Die Hard hit him outside a West Hollywood restaurant last week. Willis said yesterday in the suit, filed in Beverly Hills Superior Court, that he hit no one and merely held his hands in front of his face to avoid being blinded by camera flashes as he entered a Japanese restaurant popular with celebrities. He said contact with photographer Anthony Goodrich was ''exceedingly minimal and inadvertent'' and Goodrich slandered him by telling the Web site TMZ.com that Willis had stiff-armed him, struck his camera lens and pushed it into his face.

The lawsuit claims Willis suffered at least 1 million dollar in damage to his ''reputation and standing in the community, as well as shame, mortification, hurt feelings, embarrassment, humiliation and damage to the value of (his) name, likeness and goodwill.'' Goodrich told TMZ.com he suffered a chipped tooth and a nose injury. He claimed he filed a complaint with police, but a police spokesman said he had no knowledge of the incident. Goodrich could not be reached for comment.