Rami Malek Recalls Being ‘Thrown’ On Cop Car As Liquor Store Robbery Suspect

During a recent interview, Rami Malek recounted a distressing past encounter with the police. “I got thrown on the bonnet of an LAPD cop car because someone had robbed a liquor store and stolen a woman’s bag,” he told The Guardian. “They said the [thief] was of Latin descent and, ‘You fit the description.’ I remember how hot that engine was. They must have been racing over there, and it was almost burning my hands.” Malek was only released when a friend clarified his Egyptian ethnicity, highlighting the racism he faced in Los Angeles as the son of immigrants. “I remember laughing on the cop car, thinking, ‘Okay, this is a very precarious situation. I may well be going to jail for something I’ve not done.'” Despite being “white passing,” he still experienced discrimination and didn’t speak English until the age of 5 or 6. (EW)