LOS ANGELES, March 6: A man was arrested and is accused of stealing Frances McDormand’s Oscars trophy after the Academy Awards on Sunday night, Los Angeles police said.
Terry Bryant, 47, was arrested on suspicion of felony grand theft, said Officer Rosario Herrera, a police spokeswoman.
“After some brief time apart, Frances and her Oscar were happily reunited. They celebrated the reunion with a double cheeseburger from In-N-Out Burger,” McDormand’s publicist, Simon Halls, told The Associated Press.
McDormand received the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”
The Oscar statuette was allegedly stolen during the Governors Ball after party, authorities said. Bryant had a ticket for the event, Herrera said.
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Bryant was stopped as he was leaving the Governors Ball after a photographer took his picture holding the trophy, police said.
The photographer didn’t recognize him as a winner and began following Bryant. When he was confronted, Bryant handed back the statuette without a fight, police said.
He was detained by security guards at the event and arrested by Los Angeles police officers. The award was later returned to McDormand.
The two-time Oscar winner, who swept trophies at the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, Independent Spirit and BAFTA ceremonies, beat out Sally Hawkins of “The Shape of Water,” Margot Robbie of “I, Tonya,” Saoirse Ronan of “Lady Bird,” and 21-time nominee Streep of “The Post” at Sunday’s Oscars.
In “Three Billboards,” McDormand played Mildred Hayes, a hardened woman seeking justice for her daughter’s murder in the crime drama.
Her first Oscar came for the 1996 film “Fargo,” directed by her husband Joel Coen and his brother Ethan.
Bryant was being held on $20,000 bail Monday, police said.
There was no immediate reply to a message sent to one of Bryant’s social media profiles and it wasn’t clear if had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
A video that posted live on a Facebook page that appeared to belong to Bryant showed him kissing and flaunting a statuette during the Governor’s Ball.
“Look it, baby. My team got this tonight. This is mine,” he said, turning the trophy toward the camera, before kissing it on the head.
As he spun around in a circle, Bryant solicited congratulations from those around him.
“Who wants to wish me congratulations?” he asked fellow revelers who were walking by, before posing for several selfies.
“You know what, I can’t believe I got this.”
No one named Terry Bryant won an Oscar on Sunday.
