“Slave” playwright Jeremy O. Harris is languishing in a Japan jail following his arrest on a drug smuggling charge last month.
The acclaimed actor and screenwriter was arrested on Nov. 16 after an airport official found drugs in his travel bag at Naha Airport, The New York Times reports.
Jeremy is being held in jail without bond on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.
He was detained after a customs officer discovered 780 milligrams of the narcotic MDMA, also known as ecstasy, in his tote bag.
The 36-year-old actor was charged with suspicion of violating Japan’s Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act.
Japan is extremely strict on drug-related crimes. Beatles legend Paul McCartney was banned from Japan after being caught with half a pound of marijuana in his travel bag.
Jeremy is best known for his 2018 critically acclaimed Slave Play, which earned a then record 12 Tony nominations, including best play.
He also acted in TV and film projects including Gossip Girl and the Netflix series Emily in Paris.
Jeremy was scheduled to attend Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival when he was arrested. He has been “quietly dropped” from the festival’s programming following his arrest, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Jeremy’s arrest is reminiscent of LGBTQ+ WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia on a drug smuggling charge in February 2022.
But unlike Jeremy, Brittney had value as a political pawn to be used in a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. The “Merchant of Death” was released from a U.S. prison in late 2022.
