I can’t believe this kind of crap still goes on in the United States of America in 2008. We’re so close to electing the first African American president yet racism still plagues the country. Unbelievable. I hope Wright sues Shreveport.

From the Internet Movie Database (IMDb):

Moviemaker Oliver Stone has hinted the summer bar brawl that landed his W stars Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Wright behind bars was racially charged.

The director was with the two actors in Shreveport, Louisiana when both were cautioned and then arrested by local police for being drunk and disorderly during a fracas outside the Stray Cat bar.

Wright and Brolin have maintained their innocence and now Stone suggests the fight started after a barman took a dislike to African-American Wright – and the whole thing was handled by “insane” cops.

He tells the new issue of Men’s Journal magazine, “I saw Jeffrey being arrested. I guarantee you, that man was not drunk, and he was not disorderly.

“There was a white bartender who had taken a dislike to him a few days prior… and he’s (Wright) not going to take s**t from anybody.

“He was escorted out of the bar and treated in a rough manner by these policemen. That’s when Josh and his group went out to protest.

“The cops said, ‘Step back, sir!’ Josh said, ‘Sir, why are you arresting him?’ and then, boom, (they) maced him in the eyes. They tasered Jeffrey twice… and they beat up my assistant.”

Stone admits he stayed inside the bar because he knew he’d get arrested if he joined the fracas.

He adds, “These people were really rough.”

Police officials in Shreveport have conducted their own internal investigation following the events of the July brawl and declared the local cops committed no violations.

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UPDATE (8/14/08): ACCORDING TO HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE, WRIGHT WAS REPORTEDLY MACED AND STUN-GUNNED AND CHARGED WITH INTERFERING WITH THE POLICE, A MISDEMEANOR.

According to the Associated Press, Jeffrey Wright, along with fellow actor Josh Brolin and five others, were placed in custody by the police shortly after 2 AM. They were involved in a bar fight early Saturday morning at the Stray Cat bar in Shreveport, Louisiana.  Wright and Brolin are currently filming Oliver Stone latest film, W., a President George W. Bush biopic. Wright is playing General Colin Powell and Brolin is playing President Bush.

Bond fans who are paying attention to the buzz on the next film, Quantum of Solace (Opening October 31 in the UK and November 7 in the US), may note that Felix Leiter (played by Wright) has one prominent scene in which he meets 007 in a bar in South America, which erupts into an action sequence shortly afterward.

Talk about life imitating art!

Discuss this Jeffrey Wright news in this thread on the FelixLeiter.com Forums, the only place dedicated to the discussion of Felix Leiter on the Internet.

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