WebProNews

Tag: Daniele Watts

  • Django Unchained Actress: Not Guilty; Cop Was Racist

    Django Unchained actress Daniele Watts has been fighting a bizarre charge against her for the past few months. The African-American actress recently pleaded not guilty to charges of misdemeanor lewd conduct stemming from an incident late last year when she and boyfriend Brian James Lucas were reported having sex in a parked car.

    The Django Unchained actress has said all along that she and her boyfriend — whom she points out is white — were not having sex.

    “We are, quite frankly, appalled and disturbed that the L.A. prosecutor’s office has chosen to file these charges against us,” the couple said in a statement in October.

    “If a passionate public embrace while displaying no nudity is grounds for having charges filed against you, then we’d expect that everyone who engages in an extended public display of affection with their loved one will be targeted as well.”

    The LAPD begs to differ. They say that they have “witnesses who were willing to provide evidence of a criminal act.”

    What is more, the LAPD says that they would not have even had an investigation in the first place if Watts had simply cooperated with the officers who arrived at the scene. Instead, they say, the Django Unchained actress refused to provide ID and tried to walk away.

    “If they had handled this situation in a civil manner, they would have never been charged or detained for that long,” the arresting officer said. “I would have been gone in five minutes.”

    Watts, on the other hand, has accused the arresting officer of racism since her boyfriend is white.

    Watts’ attorney Lou Shapiro said after her not guilty plea was entered, “I look forward to a positive outcome for my clients,”

    If convicted, the couple faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Their next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23.

  • ‘Django Unchained’ Actress Daniele Watts, Boyfriend Plead Not Guilty to Charges Accusing Them of Having Sex in a Car

    Django Unchained actress Daniele Watts and her boyfriend plead not guilty Tuesday to charges of lewd conduct, said their attorney Lou Shapiro.

    “I look forward to a positive outcome for my clients,” Shapiro said of the couple who were detained in September in Studio City, California, after police received a call saying a couple was having sex in a car.

    A big brouhaha ensued when police arrived, with Watts accusing the police officer who stopped them of racism because she is black and her boyfriend is white.

    City prosecutors charged Watts and Brian James Lucas with misdemeanor lewd conduct in October. Initially, the LAPD had no intention on charging the couple, but spokesman Lt. Andrew Neiman later said that a follow-up investigation “revealed witnesses who were willing to provide evidence of a criminal act.”

    Daniele Watts, who appeared in the movie Django Unchained and the FX TV show Partners, has denied that the couple were having sex and defended her refusal to provide identification to officers during the encounter.

    “We are, quite frankly, appalled and disturbed that the L.A. prosecutor’s office has chosen to file these charges against us,” the couple said in a statement in October.

    “If a passionate public embrace while displaying no nudity is grounds for having charges filed against you, then we’d expect that everyone who engages in an extended public display of affection with their loved one will be targeted as well.”

    Sgt. Jim Parker, one of the officers involved in the detention told The LA Times that Watts repeatedly refused to provide identification and left the scene, leading the officers to handcuff her on the scene.

    “If they had handled this situation in a civil manner, they would have never been charged or detained for that long,” Parker told The Times after their detention in September. “I would have been gone in five minutes.”

    If convicted, the couple faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Their next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23.

  • ‘Django Unchained’ Actress Daniele Watts Handcuffed After 911 Call About ‘Public Sexual Act’

    “Django Unchained” actress Daniele Watts is accusing police of racism after she was handcuffed last week when she refused to show her ID to Los Angeles police.

    The African-American actress and her white boyfriend were livid when police questioned them in what they said was only a public display of affection in their car.

    “I believe in America and what it stands for,” Watts said Monday in an interview on CNN’s New Day.

    According to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department, officers responded to a 911 call, which claimed “a male white and female black were involved in a sexual act inside a Mercedes” outside the gate of CBS Studio Center on Thursday.

    “There was an indication on the radio call that a male white and female black were involved in a sexual act inside a Mercedes with the vehicle door open,” Officer Sally Madera said. “Two people were briefly detained, but it was revealed no crime had been committed.”

    The officer had the right to request identification if he suspected illegal behavior, legal experts told CNN. However TMZ published part of the audio encounter with police, and it’s apparent that Watts did not believe they had the right to ask for her ID.

    “Somebody called, which gives me the right to be here,” the unidentified Los Angeles police officer says to Watts in the audio recording. “So It gives me the right to identify you by law.”

    “Do you know how many times the cops have been called just for being black?” she responded.

    “Who brought up the race card?” the officer asked.

    “I’m bringing it up because I have every right to be here,” Watts answered.

    The actress responded to the officers second request for ID with, “You can take me down to the court office, and I can make a scene about it. And you know what? I have a publicist, and I work as an actor in this studio.”

    The officer, who is well-acqainted with similar responses since he patrols a neighborhood with many A-list celebrities that include George Clooney and Miley Cyrus, didn’t waver. “I’m mildly interested you have a publicist, but I’m going to get your ID,” he insisted.

    “No, I’m going to say no, and if you’d like my ID you can say that I’m resisting arrest,” she said.

    “There’s no resisting, you’re just interfering,” he said. “I have probable cause; we received a radio call.”

    Post by Cheffy BeLive.

    Watts then made a call to her father, comedian Martin Lawrence.

    “I can’t make out with my boyfriend in front of my f–king studio?” she screams to her father. “I don’t have to give him my ID because it’s my right to sit on the f–king street corner and make out with my boyfriend. That’s my right.”

    “Keep yelling, it really helps,” the officer then said.

    Watts was eventually handcuffed and placed in a patrol car until her boyfriend, Brian James Lucas, better known as celebrity chef Cheffy Be*Live, gave the officer her ID.

    Lucas posted on Facebook following the incident, eluding that it was a racist encounter.

    Post by BeLive Brian.