(Image source: Getty Images / Kevin Winter)
BY Sebastian Martinez
Actress Daniele Watts, best known for her role in “Django Unchained,” now faces a charge of lewd conduct going back to a run-in with police in Los Angeles last month.
Well, maybe we should say originally best known for that role — because now it seems the incident, where she says she was arrested for kissing her boyfriend, has gotten her more attention than her part in the 2012 spaghetti Western. (Video via KCBS)
But Los Angeles police say witnesses on the scene called police because the couple were doing much more than kissing — one witness alleged they were having sex in their car, well within view of the public. (Video via KNBC)
Watts accused the officers that detained her of racial profiling, saying they assumed she was a prostitute because she is black and her boyfriend is white.
A number of outlets ran with Watts’ allegations as fact, reporting that she had been detained on suspicion of prostitution, or mistaken for a prostitute.
In response to those allegations, one of the officers involved leaked an audio recording of the incident — which seems to show the handcuffing was much more about Watts’ refusal to show identification.
DANIELE WATTS VIA TMZ: “Do you know how many times I’ve been called— the cops have been called just for being black.”
SGT. JIM PARKER: “Who brought up the race card? I said nothing about you being black.”
Now, the officer who leaked the audio is in trouble, both for the leak and for talking to the press during the investigation into the incident, saying “I had to make a decision. We were facing another racial, tumultuous incident in L.A. … Is it against department policy? Yes. Is it the right thing to do? Yes.”
Watts faced criticism from a handful of civil rights activists, after the recording came to light — because they said Watts’ racial accusations were false and could delegitimize future cases of racial profiling.
NAJEE ALI VIA KCAL: “We have nothing to be embarrassed about, she should be embarrassed she’s the one that told the lie.”
“The LAPD in this case did everything by the book.”
Now, Watts and her boyfriend, Brian James Lucas — who said they were “appalled” by the charges — face a fine and the possibility of up to six months in jail if found guilty.