Following up on a story in the tabloid Star magazine, The Associated Press has uncovered a secret past of Draper-esque proportions from Mad Men actor Jon Hamm's college days.
According to court records, Hamm took part in a violent fraternity hazing at the University of Texas in 1990 that led to the entire chapter of the Sigma Nu fraternity being shut down forever, a lawsuit, and Hamm getting probation for a criminal hazing charge along with four of his frat bros.
From the AP:
According to the lawsuit, Hamm became "mad, I mean really mad" after the 20-year-old Sigma Nu pledge failed to recite things he was supposed to memorize about Hamm and other fraternity members. For Hamm, his list included "Young Bobby," ''MC Hammer" and "UT Football Punching Bag."
The pledge, Mark Allen Sanders, said Hamm went on to set his jeans on fire, shove his face in dirt and strike him with a paddle.
The lawsuit, which was dismissed in 1993, also states the claim that Hamm punched Sanders in the kidney, and that Sanders needed medical treatment after the incident.
The entire Star story isn't online, but a piece of it that is reports that Hamm allegedly “hooked the claw of a hammer underneath his [the pledge’s] genitals and led him by the hammer around the room.”
Hamm, who is now 44, would have been 18 or 19 at the time of the hazing.
The final season of Mad Men premiered on AMC last Sunday.
