--- title: Cops Detained Django Unchained Danièle Watts For Indecent Exposure description: LAPD releases statement in response to public complaint by Danièle Watts that she was unfairly treated canonical: https://time.com/3377872/daniele-watts-lapd/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-15T13:45:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:10:51.339Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Cops Detained Django Unchained Actress After 911 Call For Indecent Exposure og:description: LAPD releases statement in response to public complaint by Danièle Watts that she was unfairly treated og:url: https://time.com/3377872/daniele-watts-lapd/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt248486c652afcec7/6986a34155a8592dfaa828b6/daniele-watts.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: People StyleWatch Denim Party - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cops Detained Django Unchained Actress After 911 Call For Indecent Exposure twitter:description: LAPD releases statement in response to public complaint by Danièle Watts that she was unfairly treated twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt248486c652afcec7/6986a34155a8592dfaa828b6/daniele-watts.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cops Detained _Django Unchained_ Actress After 911 Call for Indecent Exposure by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 15, 2014 1:45 PM UTC  Actress Daniele Watts attends the People StyleWatch Denim Party at Palihouse on September 20, 2012 in West Hollywood, Calif. Actress Daniele Watts attends the People StyleWatch Denim Party at Palihouse on September 20, 2012 in West Hollywood, Calif.David Livingston—Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 15, 2014 1:45 PM UTC Los Angeles police say _Django Unchained_ actress Danièle Watts was detained and handcuffed after the cops received a 911 call about a couple involved in indecent exposure in a car. On Thursday, Watts [posted an account of the incident on her Facebook pag](https://www.facebook.com/wattsdaniele/posts/682727425137030)e, writing that she had not been doing anything wrong when she was approached by the police: “[I was handcuffed and detained](http://time.com/3373525/daniele-watts-police-pda/) by 2 police officers from the Studio City Police Department after refusing to agree that I had done something wrong by showing affection, fully clothed, in a public place,” the post reads. [In a statement](http://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/news%5Fview/56928), the Los Angeles police said a 911 operator received a call that a man and woman were involved in indecent exposure in a silver Mercedes with the car door open. “Upon further investigation it was determined that no crime had been committed,” the statement reads. “Ms. Watts and her companion were subsequently released.” The department says an internal complaint investigation has been launched to look into the incident. Watts says she was merely kissing her partner, Brian James Lucas, when the police approached them asking for identification. Lucas gave the police his ID, but Watts refused to hand over hers in the belief that she’d done nothing wrong. The police subsequently handcuffed Watts. According to Lucas’[ account on his Facebook pag](https://www.facebook.com/RawkinBeLive?fref=nf)e, he believes the police thought Watts was a prostitute. “It’s not a crime to be fully clothed showing public affection in our car,” Watts said in an interview with CNN Monday. “It’s my right and my pleasure to enjoy myself… I don’t feel like I should be ashamed about it.” Watts told CNN she was “humbled by the experience” of having her story told to the world. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3377872/daniele-watts-lapd/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3377872/daniele-watts-lapd/"},"headline":"Cops Detained Django Unchained Actress After 911 Call for Indecent Exposure","datePublished":"2014-09-15T13:45:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:10:51.339Z","description":"LAPD releases statement in response to public complaint by Danièle Watts that she was unfairly treated","url":"https://time.com/3377872/daniele-watts-lapd/","keywords":["celebrities","LAPD"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt248486c652afcec7/6986a34155a8592dfaa828b6/daniele-watts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt248486c652afcec7/6986a34155a8592dfaa828b6/daniele-watts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"People StyleWatch Denim Party - Arrivals","caption":"People StyleWatch Denim Party - Arrivals","creditText":"David Livingston—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3377872/daniele-watts-lapd/","name":"Cops Detained Django Unchained Actress After 911 Call for Indecent Exposure"}}]}] ```