Mark Wahlberg is hoping the state will wipe out his conviction in the 1988 beating of a Vietnamese man, an attack in which Wahlberg — then an unknown teen from Dorchester — used racial slurs as he beat the victim with a five-foot stick.
Though the incident attracted little notice at the time, it was one of several that would trail Wahlberg as he built his career as a hip-hop artist, then an actor.
Wahlberg has long said he regrets the actions of his teenage years, and has answered many questions about them over the years. Here’s a look at how the coverage unfolded in his hometown.
On Oct. 12, 1988, word of Wahlberg’s transgressions appeared in a short Boston Globe article that discussed his sentencing, along with some of the previous allegations against him.
Those elements of Wahlberg’s past did not draw much attention until after he began to raise his profile as the frontman of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, an ascent helped by his relationship with older brother Donnie Wahlberg of the New Kids on the Block.
In a 1991 profile, Mark Wahlberg acknowledged some parts of his record, and even discussed how it would play with his hip hop image. He did not go into detail about the racial elements of the cases.
In 2000, as Walhberg’s acting career grew with his role in “The Perfect Storm,” he discussed the allegations with the Globe again in a profile.
RELATED: Wahlberg applies to have 1988 assault erased
Andy Rosen can be reached at andrew.rosen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @andyrosen.