Superstar director Ryan Coogler was briefly detained and handcuffed at his own bank after attempting to withdraw $12,000 from his account.
According to TMZ, the incident occurred in January when Coogler entered a Bank of America branch in Atlanta wearing sunglasses and a COVID-19 face mask. The site says he gave the teller a withdrawal slip with a handwritten note on the back that reportedly 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.”
However, upon trying to process the transaction, a security measure was reportedly triggered on her computer, and the teller — who has been described as a pregnant Black woman — told her manager Coogler was trying to rob the bank. The manager then called the police.
The responding Atlanta police officers detained two people who were waiting for the award-winning director, went inside the bank, then brought Coogler out in handcuffs. After a brief investigation, Coogler was released, but he did seem to express frustration at the time, reportedly asking for the badge numbers of all the responding officers, according to the police report, obtained by TMZ.
Coogler confirmed the incident in a statement to Variety, saying, “This situation should never have happened. However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction, and we have moved on.”
Bank of America told Variety, via a spokesperson, “We deeply regret that this incident occurred. It never should have happened and we have apologized to Mr. Coogler.”
Coogler, an Oakland, California native, has been in Atlanta filming the sequel to the blockbuster Marvel film Black Panther.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set for release in November 2022. Details of its plot have been few and far between since the original film’s iconic star, Chadwick Boseman, died in August 2020 from colon cancer. The film’s production also suffered another setback when actress Letitia Wright was reportedly injured on set.
Michaela Coel joined the cast in a role that has yet to be confirmed, according to DigitalSpy, and Dominique Thorne of If Beale Street Could Talk will play Riri Williams, also known as Ironheart.
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