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EXCLUSIVE: We reported yesterday that Griffin O’Neal was barred from entering the memorial service for Farrah Fawcett yesterday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Los Angeles. He and his wife Joanna Berry O’Neal and their young child showed up but were not on the private guest list.

Griffin is the son of actor Ryan O’Neal and actress Joanna Moore. He and his father have been estranged since an incident in February 2007 led to the arrest of the elder O’Neal. Ryan claimed at the time that he was protecting Griffin’s pregnant girlfriend when he grabbed a gun and fired shots, only after his son began wildly swinging a fireplace poker.

We reported the above information in a previous story detailing Farrah Fawcett’s funeral – see funeral photos and video here. We have since heard from Griffin O’Neal’s wife. Joanna Berry O’Neal wanted to set the record straight about the reason for the estrangement of the father and son:

“I am Griffin’s wife and was present the night of the attack. Ryan was doing drugs and became enraged, attacking Griffin with the fireplace poker and subsequently smashed me in the face with it, resulting in 10 stitches and fracturing my face in 4 places, and damaging my left eye.

When Griffin wrestled the poker away from his father, as we were trying to flee, Ryan went to get his gun. Ryan was arrested for assault, not Griffin. If Griffin had attacked Ryan, he would’ve been arrested. Ryan tried to spin the story in the media to protect his image. He is not a nice guy.”

Griffin O’Neal told People magazine in September 2008, “It’s a very screwed-up family. If you want to be emotionally healthy and strong, you’ve got to get out…it’s a truly sad situation.” He told Larry King on August 3, 2009 that his father forced cocaine on him at age 11.

In any case, the estrangement is real and Griffin O’Neal, along with his wife and their child, were not allowed to pay their final respects to Farrah Fawcett.

View photos of the family below. Turns out Ryan O’Neal hit on his own daughter at the funeral – see details here.


Photos: WENN