Jason Mitchell, ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Star, Arrested On Felony Drug And Weapons Charges

Straight Outta Compton and The Chi actor Jason Mitchell was arrested Wednesday in Harrison County, Mississippi on four alleged drug and weapons charges, police records obtained by Deadline Thursday reveal. Mitchell was arrested under suspicion of two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and two counts of possession of a weapon by a felon.

Police searched Mitchell, 33, during a traffic stop at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, allegedly finding an assault rifle and Glock pistol as well as 2 lbs. of marijuana and an unspecified amount of ecstasy, according to records. He was released around 8 p.m. that same day, but his bond amount was not publicly released. Mitchell has yet to speak publicly about the arrest.

The actor, who portrayed rapper Eazy-E in the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, has since appeared in a number of roles, including Glenn Mills in the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island, Ronsel Jackson in the 2017 film Mudbound and Brandon Johnson on The Chi from 2018 to 2019. In April 2019, Mitchell was fired from Netflix film Desperados prior to filming, kicking off a series of events in which he was dropped by his agent and management and fired from The Chi, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

THR reported at the time that the choice to fire Mitchell came after actress Tiffany Boone accused him of sexual harassment. In November, the actor denied all allegations on The Breakfast Club, blaming his firing instead on contract negotiations tied to his tenure on the show and rising star in Hollywood.

“There actually was no situation with Tiffany,” he said in the November 2019 interview. “The actual reason that I got let go was because Disney saw what was going on with Desperados and they just bought Showtime, so they decided not to pick up my option. I’ve been on the show for what was about to be three seasons. I was nominated for an award, so you know, I was asking for money and all these different sorts of things and they just weren’t down to do it.”