Ving Rhames Racially Profiled By Police, Held At Gunpoint

July 2024 · 2 minute read

Ving Rhames shared a racial profiling experience that falls in the category of “relaxing at home while black.” The 59-year-old actor was asked about dealing with racism during an interview with Sirius XM’s Clay Cane show on Friday (July 27) where he revealed that police held him at gunpoint after a neighbor called 911 to accuse him of breaking into his own home.

Rhames said that the police encounter took place at his house in Santa Monica, Calif. sometime this year. The Mission: Impossible – Fallout star was kicking back in his boxers one afternoon when he heard commotion around the house.

Rhames assumed that the noise came from his puppies running around the backyard, until he heard a knock on the door. “I opened the door [and] it’s a red dot pointed on my face from a 9 mm,” he recalled of the cops storming the house.

Throughout the ordeal, Rhames said that he remained compliant and kept his hands in the air. Luckily, one of the officers recognized him because their sons played sports against each other in school.

“My hands are up and they have me outside, ” said Rhames. “It was a police officer with a 9 mm pointed at me, one officer behind him and two…to the left of me was the captain of police [department], and another officer with a police dog. I get out and [one of the officers] recognized me.”

After a little investigating, Rhames found out that his neighbor called 911 to report a “large black man” breaking into the house. Not surprisingly, the neighbor denied calling cops when confronted by Rhames and the officers.

Listen to Rhames recount his experience below.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7t7XBnmWcp51ku6bD0micp6yVp8Gitc2mnKesX6u2r7OMq5%2BapZWoerOtwqKYpaSpYr2zu8Wio56cXZfGbrzOpaCcnV2cwq%2B8zqKlrWVlboV4f5Vo