Gene Hackman Smacks Homeless Guy Who Dropped C-Word 
 
 Exclusive Details 
 
 pimp-slapped a homeless man who physically threatened the actor and his wife outside a New Mexico restaurant ... TMZ has learned.Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the incident went down Tuesday as Hackman and his wife were leaving a Santa Fe restaurant.
– It’s not often you see Gene Hackman’s name in the headlines these days, but this incident definitely got it there: Police say the 82-year-old actor slapped a homeless man in downtown Santa Fe yesterday, the AP reports, citing the Albuquerque Journal. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the man, Bruce Becker, approached Hackman and his wife as they were leaving a restaurant, threatened them, and called Hackman’s wife a “c**t.” That’s when Hackman slapped him in the face, and Becker called the cops. Police determined the smack was self-defense, and no charges have been filed at the moment. "It looked like Mr. Hackman did this purely out of self-defense to protect himself and his wife," a police spokesperson tells E!.