‘You Guys Are Black, You’ve Gone to Jail’: Donald Glover and Brother Stephen Say They Were Racially Harassed In London While Shooting Season 3 of ‘Atlanta’

The guys behind FX’s critically acclaimed series “Atlanta” recently shared claims that they were racially harassed during their stay in London while filming the highly anticipated third season of the comedy-drama.

Writer and executive producer Stephen Glover, with his brother Donald Glover, the show’s creator, spoke about the alleged incident during the show’s TCA press conference this week, Variety reported. 

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA – JUNE 08: Executive producer Stephen Glover (L) and creator/executive producer/writer/director/actor Donald Glover arrive at FX’s “Atlanta Robbin’ Season” FYC Event at the Saban Media Center on June 8, 2018 in North Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Glover said that their troubles began soon after they had arrived. While out, they were approached by several drunk people outside of a bar. A member of the group reportedly suggested that the Atlanta writers could break into a bar because they “all carry hammers,” which is the slang term for a gun.

Glover also claimed that the group came up to the crew asking if they knew any bars in the area. “This group of people walks up. And maybe one of them kind of notices Donald or recognizes him,” he explained, noting that it was a “girl and two or three guys.”

Glover said, “Mind you, all of the writers on ‘Atlanta’ are Black. So, he’s making a reference that we all have hammers, and we can just break into this place, which we kind of ignored. It was so insulting, but not insulting at the same time because it took us five minutes to fully understand. He got to a point of like if the insinuation was lost on us, he got specific, and he was like, ‘You guys are Black, you’ve gone to jail, and you do things like that.’ Like he kept doubling down on it.”

Glover revealed that the staff also was accused of trying to assault a woman. The man making the offensive comments grabbed the woman who had been talking to one of the writers and told her to “Run. They are going to rape you, like, rape you.” 

“The girl was literally, like, ‘I’m sorry,’ as she’s being taken away,” Glover added. “So, it was pretty bad.” His brother and lead actor on the series said they were “ just standing there, like, ‘What just happened?’ ”

Season three of “Atlanta” is set to debut on March 24 on FX. Its fourth season, which was shot immediately after its earlier season, will air sometime in the fall and be the series’ last installment. 


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