Denzel Washington helped out a distressed homeless man in Los Angeles Thursday. The Remember the Titans star appeared to have spotted a man in the middle of a street in the West Hollywood neighborhood who was in potential danger of oncoming traffic, according to TMZ.
After spotting the man, Washington can be seen in a video from Local News leaving his car and approaching the man and helping him onto the sidewalk and out of harm’s way. The man was detained after police arrived, though was released shortly after. Washington continued to stay with the man throughout the encounter and can be seen doing his best to comfort him. He and the officers were all wearing protective masks, though the man he was helping wasn’t.
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Washington’s good deed comes four days after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Given that Floyd was accused of writing a bad check, the video captured national attention and once again renewed the conversation of police brutality toward minorities. The four officers involved have since been fired, though there have been increasing calls, and protests, calling for them to be arrested.
Back in 2004, Washington was being interviewed by Katie Couric on NBC News to promote his film, The Manchurian Candidate. However, things got uncomfortable when Couric asked him if “Hollywood folks” shouldn’t get involved in politics. “I don’t know what Hollywood folks are, first of all,” Washington replied, appearing agitated. “Hollywood is a town that has some stars on the sidewalk. I don’t know anybody from there. That’s like calling you a ‘type’ of folks. I’m not a Hollywood folk. I don’t know who they are.” Couric pushed back on the question after rephrasing it, which didn’t go much better. After similar pushback on the question, Washington said simply “I’m a human being. My job is acting.”
In an interview with the Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino podcast in April, Couric revealed that she was “left shaken” by Washington’s response. “I think he totally misconstrued a question I asked and kind of jumped all over me,” Couric said. “I don’t think I said anything wrong. I don’t know what happened. I love him, I admire him so much. He’s one of my favorite actors, but I remember walking out and feeling really kind of shaken that he had kind of gone after me in a way that was completely, weirdly uncalled for.”
