• Controversial broadcaster was watching The 39 Steps
  
• Family 'insulted' and wine was 'kicked over his wife'
• But woman sitting nearby says it was 'accident'
  

By Jennifer Madison and Mark Duell

Last updated at 4:05 PM on 29th June 2011

Controversial broadcaster Glenn Beck blinked back tears as he claimed on air that he and his family were attacked in a New York park.

The 47-year-old said he was with his wife and daughter for an outdoor film when other cinemagoers turned against him on Monday night.

He described a 'pubic lynching' where 'hateful' people kicked wine on his wife, hurled insults at his family and took pictures to exploit online

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Family time: Glenn Beck (centre) snapped last night in Bryant Park during its Summer Film Festival, which he attended with wife Tania and daughter Hannah

Public insults: Beck said a nearby moviegoer kicked wine on his wife Tania (centre left) shortly after they arrived

The outspoken presenter, whose radio show was streamed on internet channel GBTV, said he was with his wife, Tania, and daughter Hannah.

They were watching Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps at Bryant Park's Summer Film Festival, where hundreds of moviegoers lay out for shows. 

But his security detail was forced to intervene when nearby patrons made a pronounced effort to show he was unwelcome.

'We got there about 7:00. And it was a hostile situation,' he said. 'Somebody kicked a cup of wine intentionally onto my wife's back.

'As my daughter and my wife went to go and use the restroom... on the other end of the park, some guy stood up and and pointed his fingers at them and said: "We hate conservatives here!"'

Sticking it out: The host (bottom right) with his wife and daughter, who sat through the entire movie

'I was told a lot last night how much New York hates people like me,' he said, comparing the scene to a public lynching.

'I swear to you I think, if I had suggested, and I almost did, "Wow, does anybody have a rope? Because there’s tree here.

'You could just lynch me." And I think there would have been a couple in the crowd that would have.'

Mr Beck said his security team was worried the incident could have easily spun out of control, had he not kept calm.

'My security detail was talking this morning that had we reacted poorly the whole thing could have just gone up,' he said.

Divisive: Beck said, 'I was told a lot last night how much New York hates people like me'

'These people were some of the most hateful people I have ever seen,' he said.

'You can take pictures of me and make me into a monster; say whatever you want but please leave my family out of it'

Glenn Beck

'All I wanted to do was go out on a blanket with my family and have dinner in the afternoon sun and sit around.'

He refused to leave despite the public taunts, but made a swift exit just before the credits rolled, prompting the crowd to break out in applause.

'When the movie was just about over my wife and I got out because it was hussle,' he said.

'We didn't leave... because I have a right to watch a movie and enjoy a movie with my family in the park.'

But he was most distraught by the public taunts directed as his daughter and wife.

Distraught: Beck took to the airwaves on Tuesday for an emotional re-telling of the incident

'People were taking pictures of my family,' he said of images that later circulated online.

'You can take pictures of me and make me into a monster; say whatever you want but please leave my family out of it,' he said.

But a woman called Lindsey Piscitell contacted a magazine to say she was sat with several friends behind Mr Beck and disputed his version of events.

She said his family was left 'completely alone, and for the most part he was too' - adding that the wine glass spilling incident was 'a complete accident'.

Ms Piscitell told New York Magazine: 'It was his security detail that seemed to be unnecessarily prickly with the crowd, scolding myself and my friends for acrobatics and other harmless activities taking place.'

A Bryant Park spokesman told AM New York he heard of no incident report filed regarding Mr Beck and the 20-year-old event is 'usually civil'.

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