Donald Glover says the story about the 'Atlanta' crew being racially harassed in London was true, but they were laughing when recounting it
- Last week, the writers of "Atlanta" told a story about racial harassment while filming "Atlanta."
- While in London, a man on the street said because they were Black, it means they've gone to jail, they recalled.
"Atlanta" creator, writer, and star Donald Glover recently shared additional insight into a racist experience he and the other series' writers had on their first night in London while filming season three.
The incident that involved a man approaching the FX show's cast and crew, who then shared racist sentiments and stereotypes, according to the writers of "Atlanta," was reported by numerous media outlets, including Insider.
"That 'racially abused' headline about us is lame," Glover wrote on Twitter Tuesday, not specifying which outlet he was referring to.
"The story is tru. but we were all laughin tellin it," he added.
Insider attended a virtual panel for "Atlanta" last week during FX's virtual Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour.
Glover and co-writers Stefani Robinson and Stephen Glover — Donald's brother — discussed the incident after a reporter asked them if they had any anecdotes about feeling like a "fish out of water" while in the UK and other parts of Europe.
This prompted a bout of laughter from Donald and Stephen, as well as some of the "Atlanta" actors on the Zoom call.
"Stephen, I think we're both thinking of the same thing, and you can tell that story if you want to," Donald said. "Stefani, or you can tell it if you like."
Then Robinson, one of the writers on the show, said "there's so many."
But after a couple of minutes, the same reporter repeated their question.
"And a specific incident that you felt like a fish out of water, let's say, walking in the streets of London?" they asked.
The whole "Atlanta" team started laughing again as Robinson chimed in, saying "there was one time I'm thinking of where we were walking down the street, and I feel like we were harassed."
Taking turns adding details and explaining how the night unfolded, the "Atlanta" team proceeded to tell a story about how a group of people started chatting with them outside of a closed pub on their first night in London.
One man, in particular, made racist statements, including telling them that because they were Black, it means they've gone to jail and probably carry "hammers," which is a slang word for a gun in the UK. (You can read Insider's full report on the anecdote here, where we described the encounter as racial harassment.)
Season three of "Atlanta" premieres on FX on March 24.