New York suddenly has a list of “Shopping While Black” scandals unfolding. After high-end department Barneys was accused of racial profiling by a pair of young people, a rising Hollywood actor had a similar situation happen to him over the summer at Macy’s.
Rob Brown, 29, says that after buying his mother a $1,350 watch for her graduation, plainclothes officers accused the star of HBO’s Treme for possessing a fake card back in June. With the recent slamming of Barneys by Trayvon Christian and Kayla Phillips for being accused of grand larceny as Brown was, things aren’t going well for the retail giants in the big city.
Brown sat down with the New York Daily News, and spoke on the incident that landed him in cuffs and late for his mother’s graduation. The Finding Forrester actor is suing Macy’s for unspecified damages, and also reached out to Christian regarding his case.
From the Daily News:
Brown, who made his movie debut starring opposite Sean Connery in 2000’s “Finding Forrester,” says he’d been shopping at Macy’s flagship store because he wanted to buy a graduation present for his mother, Myra, who received a degree from Metropolitan Community College.
He settled on a $1,350 silver Movado watch with gold trim. Brown said he purchased the last one, the display model, and strolled over to a Sunglass Hut in the store while he was waiting for it to be cleaned.
He said he saw some $350 Prada shades he liked and was also going to buy those — but while he was waiting for them to be tightened, he was suddenly swarmed by “at least three” plainclothes officers.
Brown, a Brooklyn native, thought at one point he was being robbed before he says the cops paraded him around the store, and taking him to a holding cell where he was held for 45 minutes. After the cops checked Brown’s records, the actor says an officer took him to his mother’s graduation which he says he was late for.
“To be late for my mother’s graduation ceremony — that was devastating,” Brown said.
Brown vented on Twitter in June after the incident, clearly angered for getting fingered for a crime he didn’t commit. On Wednesday (Oct. 23), Brown reached out to his followers to connect him Christian.
Hit the gallery to see photos of Brown speaking with the Daily News, and showcasing some of his acting roles.
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Photo: New York Daily News, Columbia Pictures, HBO
