Man Accused Of Stealing Frances McDormand's Oscar Charged With Felony Theft
Authorities charged the man who allegedly stole Frances McDormand's Best Actress Oscar and bragged about it on social media with felony grand theft.
McDormand's Oscar Thief Charged With Felony Grand Theft
The man, identified as 47-year-old Terry Bryant, attempted to steal McDormand's golden statuette at the Governors Ball afterparty on Sunday night, March 4.
Bryant has been charged with one felony count of grand theft of property exceeding $950 in value. His arraignment will be on Wednesday, March 7. If he is found guilty of the charge, Bryant, who is currently being held on a $20,000 bail, could be looking at a maximum sentence of three years in county jail.
This isn't Bryant's first run-in with the law. Between 1999 and 2002, the self-declared music artist, disc jockey, and independent journalist faced an arrest for criminal mischief and theft.
Bryant Bragged About It On Social Media
McDormand, who won the Best Actress honor for her outstanding performance in the tragicomedy, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, was at the Governors Ball after Sunday night's festivities. She had the award in possession at the time.
However, she later realized that her award was missing. Turns out, Bryant, who had a ticket to the event, stole the award from the actress at the party shortly after the actress got her name engraved on it at the afterparty and then showed it off on Facebook.
He posted a video of himself dressed in a tuxedo holding the Oscar and kissing the statuette saying, "Lookit, baby - this is mine. My team got this tonight." "My Oscar baby," he captioned the post.
McDormand Reunited With Her Oscar
McDormand, who left the party empty-handed, was in tears outside the ball with her husband, filmmaker Joel Coen.
However, security was able to recover the prize from Bryant and hand it over to its rightful owner with some help from a photographer who did not recognize Bryant as one of the winners, and so, followed him before informing security.
"I can confirm that after a brief time apart, Frances and her Oscar were happily reunited last night. They celebrated their reunion with a double cheeseburger from In-N-Out," McDormand's rep told People.
More than 70 Oscars have been stolen to date, including 55 golden statuettes that were robbed from a loading dock in a Los Angeles suburb in a heist just weeks before the 72nd Academy Awards ceremony in 2000.
