A lawyer for fashion designer Jack McCollough, who was allegedly headbutted by Kiefer Sutherland at a party in lower Manhattan Monday, is slamming reports that he provoked the actor. On Wednesday, The New York Daily News alleged that the assault — which left McCollough with a broken nose — began after the fashionisto bumped into fellow guest Brooke Shields, prompting Kiefer to confront him.

“Anyone who knows Jack McCollough knows that he would not hurt a fly,” a rep for McCollough, who heads NYC’s prestigious Proenza Schouler fashion house tells PEOPLE. “All we can say at this point is that he was the victim of a vicious, violent, unprovoked assault and that the matter is in the hands of the authorities.”

The NYPD is investigating the incident. Kiefer, the star of FOX’s 24, is currently on probation in California stemming from his 2007 collar for DUI.