"I'm not a violent person and I don't hit people"
About this Quote
The subtext is celebrity triage. As an actress who spent years in tabloid crosshairs, Doherty is talking to two audiences at once: the public that thinks it knows her and the gatekeepers who decide whether she’s “too much” to hire, insure, or celebrate. “I don’t hit people” is intentionally un-poetic, almost legalistic. It’s a tight denial designed to be quotable, replayable, and hard to misinterpret, which is exactly what you want when your life is being edited into headlines.
There’s also an emotional gambit here: she’s asking for the presumption of humanity. Not sainthood, just baseline. By framing it as personal essence (“I’m not a violent person”) and concrete behavior (“I don’t hit people”), she bridges the gap between how fame turns individuals into types and how real harm is judged in specifics. The line works because it exposes the absurdity of having to clarify something so basic in public, while also revealing how quickly public personas are flattened into allegations that stick.
Quote Details
| Topic | Kindness |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Doherty, Shannen. (2026, January 15). I'm not a violent person and I don't hit people. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-not-a-violent-person-and-i-dont-hit-people-150029/
Chicago Style
Doherty, Shannen. "I'm not a violent person and I don't hit people." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-not-a-violent-person-and-i-dont-hit-people-150029/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm not a violent person and I don't hit people." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-not-a-violent-person-and-i-dont-hit-people-150029/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







