Former The Chi actor Jason Mitchell was arrested Wednesday in Mississippi on weapons and drug possession charges.
Mitchell, 33, was booked into the Harrison County Jail at 2:27 p.m. local time, according to the New York Post, which obtained a copy of his booking photo. He posted $150,000 bond and was released later that evening.
The actor was charged with four felony counts — possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute (marijuana), two counts of possession of a weapon by a felon (Glock19 and a Mini Draco) and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute (ecstasy), the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office said.
Mitchell’s rep released a statement to TMZ, saying the arrest was a “misunderstanding.”
“Jason is at home with his family right now, working on an amazing new project. News stories move fast and oftentimes without all of the facts,” the statement said. “This misunderstanding will be resolved shortly. We trust that the court systems blind justice will protect Jason’s rights and allow him to tell his story.”
Related Story: Jason Mitchell Breaks Silence About Being Fired From ‘The Chi’
Mitchell, whose previous credits include Straight Outta Compton and Mudbound has repeatedly made headlines over the last several months — all of them negative.
In 2019, following misconduct claims, he was fired from the Netflix movie Desperado and dropped by Showtime series The Chi.
His co-star on The Chi, Tiffany Boone, departed the series in 2018 after alleging Mitchell sexually harassed her. According to published reports, she was one of “several actresses” to complain about Mitchell. His agent and manager dropped him following his exit from The Chi.
Mitchell denied the allegations in an interview on The Breakfast Club in November 2019. He told the New York radio program that former The Chi showrunner Ayanna Floyd Davis, who went public with claims that she was the target of Mitchell’s “rage,” was to blame for his firing.
“To be honest, I really hate to say this. I’m all for the #MeToo movement,” he said. “But I think, in this situation, Ayanna tried to use it as a really ugly weapon.”
Mitchell also insisted that Boone left the show for another opportunity.
“Tiffany Boone left the show because she got a better job. She put in two seasons with us and she went on to get a better job. Anybody who knows Tiffany Boone knows that she is the epitome of a Black woman,” he said. “If you try her, she will get you together, right then and there. I encourage people to be more like that. Had me and Tiffany ever had a situation in which she felt sexually harassed, she would have told me about myself in that moment.”
