Taraji P. Henson has apologized to the Glendale Police Department and the officer who pulled over her son after accusing them of racial profiling.
Henson posted her mea culpa in an Instagram post on Friday. She admitted that she "over reacted" when she stated in an interview with Uptown magazine that her 20-year-old son, Marcell Johnson, had been "racially profiled."
"He was in Glendale, California and did exactly everything the cops told him to do, including letting them illegally search his car. It was bogus because they didn't give him the ticket for what he was pulled over for," she told the magazine last month.
The Glendale police looked into the incident and released the dash cam video that showed the officer pulling over Henson’s son for failing to yield to a pedestrian.
Johnson admitted during the traffic stop to having marijuana and Ritalin, without a prescription, in the car and allowed the responding officer to search his vehicle, according to CNN.
Johnson was cited for possession of marijuana and was not driving while impaired. In addition to the marijuana, the officer also found honey oil (concentrated marijuana), a marijuana grinder and a knife.
“Misinformation that was reported in the story in Uptown Magazine with Taraji P. Henson impairs and weakens the relationships between law enforcement and the communities,” Police Chief Robert Castro said, according to CNN.
The police department did appreciate Henson’s apology and said it would share the post with all of its officers.
The “Empire” star also targeted the University of Southern California in the interview and accused the school’s campus police of profiling when they stopped her son for “having his hands in his pockets.” The incident convinced her to transfer him to Howard University in Washington, D.C. rather than the Los Angeles-based university.
“I’m not paying $50K so I can’t sleep at night wondering is this the night my son is getting racially profiled on campus,” she said.
