A brawl at Sydney’s Bondi Beach between billionaire James Packer and his former best friend and best man, David Gyngell, has left Australia enthralled and prompted a bidding war for the photographs.
Packer, 46, son of Australian television mogul and one-day cricket pioneer Kerry Packer, was seen “fighting like dogs” with his lifelong private school friend on the pavement outside his beachside home on Sunday afternoon.
Gyngell, 47, the current head of the station once owned by Packer snr and himself the millionaire son of a television executive, was seen choking Packer, a casino mogul and Australia’s third-richest person.
Packer’s close friend, Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, was seen arriving at Packer’s Bondi home yesterday . Murdoch made no comment.
A witness told Network Ten that Gyngell waited on the boot of his car outside Packer’s home at about 2pm and yelled on a phone that he was waiting for Packer, who arrived 20 minutes later after being chauffeured from Sydney Airport, where he had landed in his private jet.
Some bystanders said no words were exchanged, others said there was a string of profanities, but all were agreed that the pair soon “went at it hammer and tongs”.
A doctor reportedly visited Packer’s home and there were claims he had a black eye and took a severe blow to the jaw, possibly losing teeth.
Packer, the bigger of the two, was reportedly wearing a cap and sunglasses.
Gyngell was reportedly bearded, barefoot and wearing tracksuit pants.
Though the reasons for the fight are unknown, Gyngell was reportedly furious that Packer recently separated from Erica Baxter, his second wife and mother of his children.
Packer is rumoured to have since been in a relationship with Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr, who recently separated from Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom.
Earlier in the day, Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper published an interview with Kerr, who said she had not been in a relationship with anyone since splitting with Bloom and that Packer has “been a friend for many years”.
The fight was seen by numerous bystanders.
Chris Walker, a Bondi resident, said on Facebook: “Holy crap, big street fight outside my house …
“Not thugs, James Packer … And some other angry bloke going toe to toe – total brawl … Wow.”
He later wrote: “Packer packered [sic] a punch but copped a couple of hits straight to the jaw .
“Then they all fell on the concrete fence and I think the other guy broke his face .
“They were looking for teeth after he left … I was so thrilled, with a camera in my hand I didn’t take a pic.”
Packer and Gyngell met yesterday and later released a statement via Channel Nine, saying that despite the fight they remained “friends”.
“We have been friends for 35 years and still are,” read the statement.
“In that time we have had our fair share of ups and downs.
“We respect each other and neither of us will be commenting further.”
A bidding war has since broken out for a set of 50 photographs taken by a bystander.
The photos apparently show Packer on top and with Gyngell’s head in a grip and his feet flailing.
Packer is eventually pulled off and is seen walking away with a defiant look.