Australian-born actor Sam Worthington, who got into an altercation with a photographer in Manhattan at the weekend, was arraigned on assault and harassment charges Wednesday, Breaking Celebrity News has confirmed.

“I was only protecting my girlfriend,” he told the police about the scuffle, according to prosecutors.

As Breaking Celebrity News previously reported, the 37-year-old star of Avatar punched paparazzo Sheng Li after he allegedly kicked the movie-star’s girlfriend Lara Bingle, in an incident outside a Greenwich Village bar on Feb. 23.

During the court appearance Wednesday, Judge Brunat DiBiase issued the actor a temporary order of protection barring contact with Li.

The judge also excused Worthington’s attendance at his next court date May 8 because the actor will be out of the country on a movie shoot.

According to