Idris Elba Says He Was Held at Gunpoint After Trying to Intervene on Man Threatening Woman

Idris Elba says he once had a gun pulled on him when he tried to intervene on a man who was threatening a woman.

The actor and musician, most recently seen in the Apple TV+ thriller Hijack, was quoted as opening up about the incident in a recent Daily Mail piece. According to Elba, the situation transpired outside a club somewhere in the U.S.

“I nearly lost my fucking life, after attempting to stop a man threatening his girlfriend outside a club,” Elba said. “A guy [was] whaling on his missus, screaming in her face, ‘I’ll fucking kill you,’ and so on. I come ‘round and I go ‘Look how beautiful she is. Why would you talk to this beautiful princess like that?’”

At this point, Elba continued, the man—who thought the actor was “trying to hit on” the woman in question—brandished a weapon.

“He pulled out a gun, stuck it right in my face, and goes, ‘You talking about my girl?’” Elba said.

Following Hijack, which debuted as a strongly reviewed miniseries in June, Elba will next be seen in the Paramount+ animated series Knuckles. As expected, Elba is again voicing the title character after debuting his take on the echidna with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 last year.

Elba has also been busy musically. Last month, for example, he shared the “We Run the Area” single alongside Toddla T, General Levy, and Naomi Cowan. In May, Elba brought a memorable 91-minute set to Miami's Higher Ground. Thankfully, the set was captured (and later shared to YouTube) by Peter Donaghy.