Jon Hamm Was Once Accused of Hazing Frat Pledge With Fire

Jon Hamm is facing disturbing allegations of fraternity hazing, including burning a pledge with fire, during his days at the University of Texas.

He's become famous on Mad Men as Don Draper, a man with a secret dark past. Now, an incident from Jon Hamm’s real-life past is coming back to haunt him.

Mark Allen Sanders claimed he was sadistically hazed while pledging a fraternity at the University of Texas in Austin in 1990.

Read: Expelled Oklahoma Students Apologize For Racist Frat Rant

According a lawsuit, one of his chief tormentors was Jon Hamm, then a sophomore at the university.

The lawsuit, which is only now coming to light, was filed way back in 1991 and dismissed two years later.

Sanders claimed Hamm set his pants on fire, confined him in a grave dug into the fraternity’s basement and bashed him with a paddle.

"He hit me right over my right kidney. I mean square over it. Good solid hit," said Sanders.

Candace Trunzo of Daily Mail told INSIDE EDITION, "Sanders ended up with some terrible injuries. He had a fractured spine, almost lost one of his kidneys."

Sanders is now 45. He's both a doctor and a lawyer, specializing in malpractice and personal injury.

An assault charge against Hamm was dropped.

Hamm was also charged with hazing and received deffered adjudication, which under Texas law means he had to successfully complete probation but was never convicted. Four other fraternity members were charged and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor hazing charges. The chapter of the fraternity was shut down and never reopened on campus.

Six years after the alleged incident and long before he would hit it big on Mad Men, Hamm was on a show called The Big Date.

Read: Before 'Mad Men' Jon Hamm Was Rejected on Dating Show

On the show, a goofy looking Hamm said, “Well, we'd start off with some fabulous food, fabulous conversation, end it with a fabulous foot massage for an evening of total fabulosity!"

Hard to believe he'd later become the super-cool Don Draper, a man with a dark past.

 

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