Standard procedure when a celebrity has some brush with the law is for some outlet like TMZ to pick up a hot scoop, followed by the police releasing an official statement confirming that the celebrity did a thing, and then the celebrity fading away for a short period of time until everyone forgets about the thing they did. Miles Teller doesn’t do things the normal way, though, because he was in Whiplash and he knows that J.K. Simmons will flip out if he’s not always at the top of his game. Perhaps that’s why he has decided to publicly question the San Diego Police Department’s account of his own recent brush with the law.
As reported by the L.A. Times, the SDPD released a statement today saying that Teller was out partying with friends over the weekend when an officer stopped him and noticed that he “was showing signs of being under the influence of alcohol.” The officer specifically noted that he was “swinging from side to side, slurring words, and had bloodshot eyes,” so he decided to detain Teller and evaluate him. At that point, Teller lost his balance and “almost fell into the street,” so the officer chose to take him in “based on him not being able to care for his own safety.” He was brought to a detox center so he could sober up, but Teller was “uncooperative with the volunteer staff,” so they kicked him out and the cops arrested him for public intoxication instead.
This is when that classic Whiplash flair kicks in: Today, Teller hopped on Twitter to dismiss the SDPD’s account of the events, saying that the “wasn’t arrested” because “there was no evidence” that he committed a crime. He then reminds people not to believe everything they read, “especially from a third-party entertainment news source trying to get clicks.”
It’s a fair point, but the story about him getting arrested came from the police, not a third-party entertainment news source. Plus, the officer who arrested Teller even reconfirmed his report after Teller posted his tweets, saying, “he was arrested and he was booked. He was in jail.”
Basically, the lesson here really is that you shouldn’t believe everything you read.