Playwright and actor Jeremy O. Harris was arrested in Japan recently on suspicion of drug smuggling.
The Emily in Paris actor was allegedly caught with the psychedelic drug ecstasy, also known as MDMA, in a Japanese airport.
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Airport officials at Naha Airport on the island of Okinawa detained Harris after 0.78 grams of MDMA was allegedly found in a container in a tote bag he was carrying. He was arrested November 16, but the news was only just announced by Japanese officials this past Saturday.
Harris left London’s Heathrow Airport two days prior to his arrest before taking a layover in Taiwan, the country he eventually departed from to go to Japan.
Okinawa Regional Customs spokesperson Tatsunori Fukuda told CBS News that Harris was arrested on the spot after the discovery was made, and that authorities believe the ecstasy was for his personal use, although they are still investigating. Drug charges are treated harshly in Japan, and Harris could be facing a prison sentence of multiple years.
Harris is best known for his Broadway show Slave Play, a comedy-drama that he wrote while he was still a student at the Yale School of Drama. The play was both praised and harshly criticized for its controversial and taboo subject matter, which involves a group of interracial couples as they all undergo an intense form of group therapy where the Black partner in each couple roleplays as a slave in the bedroom.
It received 12 nominations at the 2021 Tony Awards, the most nominations ever for a non-musical, although it did not win any of them.
He has also made appearances on Netflix’s Emily in Paris and cameoed as himself on the recent reboot of Gossip Girl.
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