After Alex O’Keefe, the award-winning screenwriter of Hulu’s “The Bear,” who is Black, posted on social media that he was allegedly arrested following a complaint made by a White woman about the way he was seated while aboard a Metro North train to Connecticut on Sept. 18, the screenwriter has since said he is suing the MTA and has released a video extract of the encounter.

 

The MTA Police Department (MTAPD) had previously provided an update on the incident, saying “the passenger” [O’Keefe] was handcuffed and removed from the Metro North Train at the Fordham Metro-North station in The Bronx but was not arrested.

 

O’Keefe had posted an initial video on his Instagram account of the incident, writing, “I was arrested on the @MTA train to Connecticut today, pulled off, handcuffed, and detained. An old white woman got on the train and immediately pointed at me and told me to correct how I was sitting. I refused so she went to the conductor and complained.”

 

He continued, “The conductor called the police and stopped the train. While waiting for the police to arrive, the old Karen’s friend said, ‘You’re not the minority anymore.’ The police told me to leave the train. I refused and asked what was I doing illegally. They said I was disturbing the peace by not leaving the train. They pulled me off the train and arrested me without even talking to the Karen who reported the one black person on the train.”

 

He concluded, “On the platform, the police detained me and interrogated me. Only black folks stayed nearby and recorded the arrest. When I demanded a lawyer and reminded them they didn’t even take a statement from the woman who complained, they eventually released me. This country is growing more psycho by the day. What will you do about it?”

When contacted by Norwood News about the incident, the MTA said MTA police said that at around 10.25 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18, MTAPD officers responded to a report of “a disorderly passenger” on Train #1518 at Fordham Metro-North station in The Bronx. They did not name O’Keefe and said the train was en route at the time from Grand Central Terminal to New Haven, when a conductor reported “a passenger occupying two seats had refused to remove his feet from one of the seats.”

 

They said an investigation, enhanced by body-worn cameras and on-board security camera video, revealed a 31-year-old male was observed with both legs stretched across an adjacent seat and that when MTAPD officers boarded, he “refused police direction to exit [the train].” They said officers told the passenger to disembark the train and step onto the platform where he was allegedly informed he would be able to board the next train.

 

They said when he allegedly continued to refuse to exit, which they said delayed service for several hundred other riders for six minutes, the passenger was handcuffed and removed from the train. They said he was issued a summons for disorderly conduct, a violation, without further incident at around 10.48 a.m., and was allowed board the next train to complete his trip. MTA officials stressed that O’Keefe was not placed under arrest “at any time.”

 

The video O’Keefe posted of the incident shows him facing a wall on the platform and being cuffed. He is heard earlier repeatedly asking why he is being arrested / removed from the train. NBC later reported that a judge tossed the summons arising from the incident.

 

Posting the obtained bodycam footage extract on Instagram following a FOIL request on Nov. 1, O’Keefe said, “I am suing the MTA and the MTA Police Department to bring accountability to their long history of racial profiling, resulting in my unlawful arrest for Sitting While Black.”

 

O’Keefe added, “With Mayor Zohran Mamdani taking office soon, we have a rare opportunity to change the system. Mayor Zohran’s plan for a Department of Community Safety must be invested in. We need a team of non-violent mediators to respond to frivolous Karen calls, not armed police.”

 

The actor concluded, “My lawyers, Belldock Levine & Hoffman, previously sued the NYPD over its unlawful Stop-And-Frisk policy, resulting in the policy being declared unconstitutional. BLH also successfully represented The Central Park 5 and Eric Garner’s Estate in historic settlements. I am grateful to have a legal team of experts and fighters. I am grateful to the thousands of people who have supported me, and shared their stories.”

 

In an earlier separate interview with an Italian news outlet, “The Bear” Golden Globe-winning actress, Ayo Adebiri, a Black American, bore witness to an awkward and seemingly racist encounter with a journalist during the 2025 Venice Film Festival during the promotion of her latest movie, “After the Hunt,” which co-stars Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield.

 

During the interview, the journalist excluded Adebiri from a question, directing it instead to her co-stars, Roberts, a White American, and Garfield, a White Briton, and asked “what was lost” during the “politically correct era of Black Lives Matter,” and what was to be expected [going forward] from Hollywood since the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements were “done.”

 

Despite being sidelined, Adebiri intervened and offered her viewpoint anyway, saying she didn’t believe the movements were “done.” Her response garnered widespread support and she was broadly praised for having taken prompt control of the uncomfortable situation.

 

Meanwhile, the journalist, Federica Polidoro, later posted a lengthy response on social media to the encounter and subsequent backlash she received, denying allegations of racism. View the full exchange here.

Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri address ‘After the Hunt’ movie and its controversy. Video courtesy of Tennessean via YouTube.

According to the Tennessean, the plot of “After the Hunt” casts Roberts as a respected university professor who wrestles with professional and personal fallout when her mentee (Edebiri) alleges a male colleague (Garfield) behaved inappropriately. When pressed by journalists about whether the movie wrongfully casts doubt on the importance of believing female accusers, Roberts pushed back, arguing the psychological thriller was aimed at sparking difficult, but important conversations.