In audio recording of the 911 call, a Bank of America teller tells the dispatcher that the 'Black Panther' director is 'just being weird' while the dispatcher doesn't sound convinced that it's a crime.

• Mar 11, 2022

AceShowbiz - An audio recording of 911 call made by a bank employee has been revealed, sparking backlash directed at the teller and the bank manager for reporting Ryan Coogler to police. During the 911 call, the teller falsely thought that the "Black Panther" director was up to something no good, labeling him as "just being weird."

On the call, the employee said that Ryan handed him a piece of identification from California, but she didn't even read his name before going to the back to call her manager. "I told my manager that I didn't feel comfortable so he told me to call the police," said the employee before reading Ryan's note aloud. "It just says, 'I wanna withdraw $12,000, just be discreet,' " she told the dispatcher.

The operator seemed confused and asked if Ryan was an actual customer or if he was trying to rob the bank, to which the employee responded that he had a debit card and identification. She revealed that when she tried asking Ryan questions about how he wanted the money, he responded, "Just look at the note."

The teller confirmed that Ryan didn't have any weapons. The operator didn't sound concerned about the situation and told the bank employee, "He might just wanna be discreet but I have police around." She then replied, "Yeah, I mean, he might but he's just being weird."

The 911 call has since drawn criticism of the teller, who is only identified as a black pregnant woman, and the bank manager of alleged racist treatment to a black customer. "Blk on blk crime. Smh it was a pregnant blk teller who did this. What's up with our 'Blk Queens' hate towards BLK men," one disgruntled person wrote.

Another slammed the bank employee, "She was so wrong for that." A third critic said, "It's horrifying that bank of America endangered ryan coogler's life by choosing to call the cops on him-while he was trying to ensure his safety by asking her not to broadcast his name and dollar amount to everybody in line."

Someone else criticized the manager's reaction, "Last few things I'll say about this Ryan Coogler thing…even tho the teller was rightfully nervous about the note and his lack of verbal communication, it was the MANAGER's duty to step behind the counter and verify the ID since the teller admittedly was too nervous to focus."

"This Ryan Coogler situation has me heated that man could have lost his life so easily because people don't know how to do their job. … this country is exhausting smh…," another social media user claimed.

Someone else sympathized with Ryan, "What Ryan Coogler did was smart asf, that's a damn shame he had to go through that." Another noted that the incident is "prime example of why police don't need to be dispatched in every situation."

As reported before, Ryan was briefly detained while he tried to withdraw $12,000 at Bank of America in Atlanta, where he was filming "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever". He handed the teller a withdrawal slip with a note scribbled on the back, requesting the teller to count the cash in the back because he didn't feel safe saying it out loud or having the money counted at the teller's station.

Feeling suspicious, the teller reported him to police. When cops arrived, they put the director in handcuffs before he was able to explain the situation. He was later released and said in a statement, "This situation should never have happened. However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on."