UPDATED 3/9, 6:40 p.m. ET: TMZ published bodycam footage of a stunned Ryan Coogler having guns pulled on him by police.
In the video above, he tells the officers he’s innocent and asks them to Google his name. He tells the officers that he doesn’t feel safe withdrawing such a large amount of money, which is for a woman that works for him.
See original story below.
Black Panther and Creed director Ryan Coogler was briefly placed in handcuffs after Bank of America staff in Atlanta believed he was attempting a robbery.
Coogler was detained by authorities in January after he tried to make a withdrawal from his account, TMZ reports. Wearing shades and a mask, the 35-year-old Oscar-nominated filmmaker passed the bank teller a note that read, “I would like to withdraw $12,000 cash from my checking account. Please do the money count somewhere else. I’d like to be discreet.” The teller believed the message was suspicious, and called authorities to the scene over claims of an attempted robbery.
When the officers arrived, they detained two people waiting for Coogler in an SUV outside the bank, then placed the director in cuffs. According to the police report on the incident, the teller triggered an alert when she went to make the transaction on her computer. When that popped up, she told her boss Coogler was attempting a robbery.
In a statement provided to Variety, Coogler confirmed the situation happened and said the issue has been resolved. “This situation should never have happened,” he stated. “However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.”
According to TMZ, authorities quickly realized it was a mistake but Coogler asked for the badge numbers of all the responding officers.
Coogler has been hard at work in Atlanta on the MCU sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which faced production issues late last year when actress Letitia Wright was injured on set. The movie is still scheduled to release on Nov. 11, 2022.
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