Kurt Russell

Actor Mark Wahlberg arrives on the red carpet for the premier of "Deepwater Horizon" during the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

(Nathan Denette)

Actor Mark Wahlberg has ended his bid for a pardon for assaults he committed 28 years ago.

In 1988, a 16-year-old Wahlberg hit a Vietnamese man in the head with a stick while trying to steal alcohol and punched another in the face while trying to avoid police.

Wahlberg's request before the Massachusetts Parole Board sparked outrage in some quarters.

Judith Beals, who prosecuted the case, stated in an op-ed piece that she saw "no reason why that history should be erased from the public record through a pardon."



"I'm glad Mark Wahlberg has turned his life around ... But a public pardon is an extraordinary public act, requiring extraordinary circumstances because it essentially eliminates all effects of having ever been convicted," Beales wrote.

Wahlberg, 45, told reporters at the Toronto Film Festival this week that he now regrets seeking the pardon.

"I didn't need that, I spent 28 years righting the wrong. I didn't need a piece of paper to acknowledge it. I was kind of pushed into doing it, I certainly didn't need to or want to relive that stuff over again," Wahlberg said of the 1988 crime for which he served 45 days in prison.

Wahlberg, who grew up in Dorchester, was accused of beating one man so badly that he lost sight in one of his eyes. The "Ted" star said he was grateful to learn that those injuries were sustained a decade before.

"I was relieved to find out that the injuries to his eye had occurred in the early '70s and not from the incident that happened that night," Wahlberg said. "But I was able to meet with him and his wife and his daughter and apologize for those horrific acts. Some good did come out of it."

A Massachusetts Parole Board spokesman told the Associated Press that Wahlberg did not respond to a letter asking if he wished to keep his petition open, so the matter has been closed.