The hit Netflix show Stranger Things was missing one of its stars at its premiere launch party for the second season due to a run-in with law enforcement at the airport. When British actor Charlie Heaton landed at LAX after flying in from London, the 23-year-old actor’s belongings allegedly caught the attention of the sniffer dogs at the airport. Upon further investigation, Heaton was found to have traces of a white powder on his personal items.
According to The Sun , a source confirmed he was in possession of a “very small amount” of what was confirmed to be cocaine. Heaton, who was not arrested, was put back on a plane later that day to the U.K. forcing him to miss the elaborate celebration for the Stranger Things season premiere.
While Heaton was not arrested in this incident, the source reported that he might have been if he was carrying a larger amount of the substance.
“He was not arrested. He was held at the airport for a while and then put back on a plane to London that night. If you are a foreign national and it is a large amount of drugs you may be charged. But if it is personal use, the consequences are that you will not be allowed into the country. US law is very strict on this.”
Heaton plays Jonathan Byers on Stranger Things . He is the older brother of Will on the series, who is an abducted schoolboy. Before his starring role on the Netflix show, Heaton had other acting gigs and he was also a drummer in a rock band.
“Stranger Things” actor Charlie Heaton denied entry to the United States over traces of cocaine, official says https://t.co/3HDw0uRRxM pic.twitter.com/o4wtTKD5nq
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) October 28, 2017
The rest of the Stanger Things cast lined up for photo ops at the L.A. bash for the premiere party of the second season. Byers was visibly absent in those pictures. He was detained at the airport for a few hours, flying into LAX in the afternoon and then sent back home to the U.K. later on that evening , according to the Independent.
Reporters caught up with Heaton near his home in London yesterday and descriptions of the actor have him looking “disheveled.” A rep for Heaton reported that the actor has no comment to make over the incident this week.
A Stranger Things actor was denied entry to the US after cocaine was found in his bag: https://t.co/0xQ3HHChme pic.twitter.com/q5Gs1jJYbQ
— DailyEdge (@dailyedge) October 28, 2017
Besides his role on Stranger Things , Heaton has acted in the BBC’s One’s Casualty and the I TV Drama DCI Banks . It is not known what Heaton’s status is for future trips to the U.S. as a spokesperson from the Custom and Border Protection Agency couldn’t elaborate on Heaton’s incident. The Agency spokesperson said, “Privacy concerns prevent us from discussing individual cases of travelers arriving at US ports of entry.”
Stanger Things , which also stars the iconic Winona Ryder, won a bunch of awards this year, including five Emmys. The Screen Actors Guild award for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series” was also won by the entire cast of the show. Last night Netflix premiered the nine new episodes of the new Stranger Things season.
[Feature Image by Richard Shotwell/AP Images]
