Marvel Studios’ Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was briefly detained by police in Atlanta in January after a bank teller mistook a note he wrote as an attempted robbery.
Ryan Coogler entered an Atlanta outlet of the Bank of America wearing a hat, sunglasses and a medical mask and handed a teller a note asking for $12,000 in cash. The note also added that he wanted the money counted away from the front counter because he wanted to “be discreet,” Variety reported.
The teller, who according to TMZ is a pregnant black woman, misunderstood the note and alerted her superiors out of fear that Coogler was attempting to pass her a robbery note.
The Atlanta Police soon arrived and detained Coogler and two associates who were waiting outside in an SUV.
After a police interview, though, the incident was chalked up to a misunderstanding and the Creed director and his associates were released without charges.
Director Ryan Coogler during the #FightFor Mural presentation and red carpet for the film CREED, at Jones College Prep High School, on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 in Chicago. (Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP)
Variety added that bank official apologized for the incident, saying in a statement, “We deeply regret that this incident occurred. It never should have happened, and we have apologized to Mr. Coogler.”
As far as Coogler is concerned, the matter is closed. “This situation should never have happened. However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction, and we have moved on,” he told TMZ.
Coogler is in Atlanta filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the much-anticipated sequel to Marvel Studios’ 2018 hit Black Panther.
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