Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was detained after being mistaken for a bank robber

Ryan Coogler, the acclaimed director of Black Panther and Creed, has confirmed he was detained earlier this year after being wrongly suspected as a bank robber.

A report from TMZ on Wednesday revealed the filmmaker was detained in January after trying to withdraw money from a Bank of America in Atlanta, Georgia. Coogler, who was wearing sunglasses and a face mask, reportedly handed a teller a withdrawal slip which stated he "would like to withdraw $12,000 cash from my checking account" and asked the teller to "please do the money count somewhere else" because "I'd like to be discreet."

The bank teller was reportedly suspicious and, when the transaction triggered an alert in the system, told her boss that Coogler was trying to rob the bank. The bank staffers called 911, and when police arrived, they detained two people waiting outside for Coogler and also brought the director out in handcuffs, TMZ says.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But after an investigation, police determined Coogler had done nothing wrong and that the teller, who TMZ described as a pregnant Black woman, made a mistake.

Coogler confirmed the incident in a statement to Variety. "This situation should never have happened," he said. "However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on."

Coogler was in Atlanta shooting the highly-anticipated sequel to Black Panther, which hits theaters in November.