A routine trip to the bank ended with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler in handcuffs after an employee called the cops and wrongfully accused him of robbery.
As TMZ first reported, Coogler was in Atlanta filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in January when he stopped by a branch of Bank of America. He handed the teller a withdrawal slip with a note on the back: “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.”
A Bank of America employee, who is described in the police report as a pregnant Black woman, claimed that when she tried to process the payment, her computer issued an alert. It’s unclear if she misunderstood the alert or entered the information incorrectly, but the police report notes that the misunderstanding was her fault. She told her manager that Coogler was attempting to rob the bank, and they called the police.
Cops arriving at the scene first handcuffed two people waiting outside in an SUV for Coogler, and then detained the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker himself. After a brief investigation, everyone was released.
“This situation should never have happened,” Coogler told TMZ in a statement. “However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is due out November 9th. Since directing Black Panther in 2018, Coogler worked as a producer on such diverse films as Judas and the Black Messiah, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and Space Jam: A New Legacy, which was nominated for four Golden Raspberries.
