Chris Albrecht Discovers How Long It Takes for Hollywood to Forget a Casino Girlfriend Beating

Albrecht is the new CEO of premium cable channel Starz! Well, looks like we finally have an answer for how long it takes Hollywood to forgive you for beating up your girlfriend in public. It's about two-and-a-half years.

This is a good thing for Starz!, which is trying to turn itself into the new HBO with lots of highbrow original content, and Albrecht, who has flailed every since being ousted by Time Warner share holders almost three years ago.

Albrecht was asked to step down from his post as head of HBO in 2007 after reports surfaced that he beat his girlfriend in front of a casino. He started at HBO in 1985 and had a hand in bringing us The Sopranos, Sex and the City, The Wire, and every other show you love that was not TV, it was HBO. At the time, he said the incident stemmed from a relapse of his alcohlism. The girlfriend in question didn't press charges and later married him.

She forgave him, and so has the industry! After leaving HBO, Albrecht headed IMG Global Media and started Foresee Entertainment, a production company that sold a fashion-based drama to Starz! They must have liked it so much, they they brought Albrecht on board to run the whole show. We can't wait until he's up on stage accepting Emmys for the channel in 2014. We promise not to make any jokes about him choking the golden lady. OK, maybe not.

[Image via Getty]