While filming Season 3 of Atlanta abroad, Atlanta's makers reported being harassed.
This week, Atlanta's TCA press conference was attended by writer and executive producer Stephen Glover. On their first night in London, he explained that they were approached by a group of drunken people outside of a bar, and one person claimed that the Atlanta writers could easily break into a bar as they "all carry hammers," which is another word for guns.
The group asked Atlanta crew whether there were any local bars they knew about, according to Glover. “This group of people walks up. And maybe one of them kind of notices Donald or recognizes him,” he explained, adding that it was a “girl and two or three guys.”
“Mind you, all of the writers on Atlanta are Black. So, he’s making a reference that we all have hammers, and we can just break into this place, which we kind of ignored,” Glover said. “It was so insulting, but not insulting at the same time because it took us five minutes to fully understand. He got to a point of like if the insinuation was lost on us, he got specific and he was like, ‘You guys are Black, you’ve gone to jail and you do things like that.’ Like he kept doubling down on it.”
While talking to one of the writers, the man grabbed the woman, suggesting the crew was going to assault her. He then started yelling, “Run.
They are going to rape you, like, rape you.”
“The girl was literally, like, ‘I’m sorry,’ as she’s being taken away,” Glover continued. “So, it was pretty bad.”
In response, Donald Glover said, “We are just standing there, like, ‘What just happened?’”
In season three of Atlanta, Earn (Donald Glover), Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry), Darius (Lakeith Stanfield) and Van (Zazie Beetz) travel throughout Europe on a music tour. This season's premiere is slated for March 24 on FX.
Season 4 will air in the fall and be Atlanta's final season.