A recently obtained 1991 lawsuit has brought up allegations that Jon Hamm took part in violent hazing while a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity at the University of Texas (UT).
The Associated Press reported obtaining the lawsuit filed 24 years ago in addition to other court and school documents. Mark Allen Sanders, the lawsuit's complainant and a 20-year-old Sigma Nu pledge in 1990, implicated Hamm as being particularly violent in several different instances of hazing.
The lawsuit did not get many headlines at the time because Hamm, now 44, was not the famous TV and movie actor he is now. The lawsuit was also dismissed in 1993 and Hamm never saw prison time despite facing criminal charges.
For his charges of hazing and assault, the latter of which was dismissed, Hamm received deferred adjudication and avoided a conviction after completing his probation. Hamm also left UT to finish his degree at the University of Missouri, a school closer to home, in 1993 following the death of his father.
The AP reported neither Hamm nor Sanders responded for comment. Hamm's biggest claim to fame is his portrayal of Don Draper on the AMC TV show "Mad Men," which just started the second part of its seventh and final season.
The San Antonio Light reported on the incident at the time in an article published on July 10, 1991. At the time, the Sigma Nu fraternity was kicked off UT's campus in light of Sanders's complaint, which led to three fraternity members receiving prison sentences.
Sanders said the beatings he took as part of the hazing rituals led to him seeking medical attention and his eventual withdrawal from UT.
Hamm has never been implicated in any major criminal cases or scandals, but confirmed he completed a stint at a rehabilitation center for alcoholism.
