It has been revealed that queer playwright and actor Jeremy O Harris has been in jail in Japan since mid-November after he was charged with drug possession.
Harris is best known for his 2018 work Slave Play, which was nominated for Tony Award for Best Play. He has also acted in many TV series including Gossip Girl, Emily in Paris, and The Sweet East. Additionally Harris has served as a producer on the TV series Euphoria.
He is also credit with created the concept of Black out performances where all ort the majority of the audience are people of colour.
The 36-year-old was arrested at Naha Airport on Okinawa island after customs officials allegedly found 0.78 grams of MDMA in his bag.
Harris has been held in custody since the 16th of November, and this week officials formally filed charges of attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the country. It is not known at this time how he has pleaded to the charges.
The writer and actor was visiting the country for a holiday, and had travelled from Britain via Taiwan. Japan is known for its tough stance on drug offences, but it does not have the death penalty like other Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia.
In 2023 Perth grandmother Donna Nelson was found with 2kgs of methamphetamine hidden inside her suitcase when she arrived at Japan’s Narita Airport. She later explained that she’d been had been the victim of an internet romance scheme and unwittingly become a drug courier.
She was sentenced to six years behind bars and earlier this year lost her appeal to Japan’s High Court.
