Oscar-nominated actor Haley Joel Osment was caught on camera hurling insults and an antisemitic slur at cops when he was arrested for public intoxication.
The Sixth Sense star has been charged with public intoxication and cocaine possession after the incident earlier this month at a Northern California ski resort. He has since apologized for his behaviour and said he had ‘let the Jewish community down’.
In police bodycam footage obtained by the New York Post, Osment is seen arguing with officers at the scene in Mammoth Lake on April 8.
“I’ve been kidnapped by a f***ing Nazi”, he says at one point after his arrest while being driven away from the scene.
The footage begins with Osment appearing hostile as he struggles with officers while looking intoxicated.
Refusing to give his name, the 37-year-old drops to his knees as he is arrested before officers repeatedly ask him to stand up. While being picked up, he says: "I'm being attacked."
Footage then shows police noting they have found suspected cocaine residue on a $20 bill in his ski helmet. “I think there’s cocaine in that,” one officer says. Osment is placed into the back of a police car and driven away.
From the driver’s bodycam, the actor can be heard saying to officers: “I was decent to you and you , and you are a f***ing k***.” He also says: “You’re f***ing with my life.”
In response to the recording, the actor apologised in a statement to the New York Post.
He said: “I’m absolutely horrified by my behavior. Had I known I used this disgraceful language in the throes of a blackout, I would have spoken up sooner.”
Referring to losing his home in the Californian wildfire, he added: “The past few months of loss and displacement have broken me down to a very low emotional place. But that’s no excuse for using this disgusting word. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to absolutely everyone that this hurts. What came out of my mouth was nonsensical garbage – I’ve let the Jewish community down and it devastates me.”
The Mono County District Attorney's office announced the misdemeanor charges Thursday against the actor, who is due to be arraigned on July 7.
Osment rose to fame and received a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for starring opposite Bruce Willis in M. Night Shyamalan's thriller “The Sixth Sense.”
Two years later he starred in Steven Spielberg's “A.I.” and has worked consistently as a voice actor since then. He's also appeared in the television series “The Kominsky Method” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”
Osment is among the thousands of people who lost their homes in January's devastating Eaton Fire in the Altadena area near Los Angeles.
In 2006, Osment was charged with drunken driving and marijuana possession after crashing his car into a mailbox in the Los Angeles area and breaking a rib.
