‘Black Panther’ Director Ryan Coogler Mistaken For Bank Robber in Atlanta

The director of Creed and Black Panther, Ryan Coogler, was briefly detained by the police in January after attempting to withdraw money from a Bank of America in Atlanta.

According to the police report, the teller called police after Coogler handed her a withdrawal slip requesting about $12,000, and included a note asking her to “be discreet.” Her computer also flagged the withdrawal as a “high-risk transaction.”

Police say that they approached the bank, and spoke with the driver of an SUV that said Coogler was a filmmaker and he was waiting for him, which was also corroborated by a woman in the same vehicle. Police reportedly walked Coogler out of the bank in handcuffs, seating him, the driver, and the female passenger in a patrol car.

The director was briefly questioned by police and explained that he was paying a medical assistant employed by his family and simply wrote the note because it was an extra precaution to help him feel safer while withdrawing the money. He complained that the teller who called the police, “never said it was a problem,” and that he provided required documentation including his ID and bank card.

In a video from police bodycams, after Coogler was handcuffed, he can be seen in the back of a police car. He says in the video, “She got scared when a black dude handed her a note … if she was scared, she’s got to admit that.”

Coogler and the teller are both black, according to the report. The teller told police that she is pregnant, so she was suspicious of Coogler because “I have to protect myself. I have to protect my child.”

Police say that Coogler was released in the Bank of America parking lot after the misunderstanding was cleared up, and the incident was a “mistake by Bank of America and that Mr. Coogler was never in the wrong.”

The filmmaker addressed the mixup in a statement on Wednesday, which said, “This situation should never have happened,” but the bank, “addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.”