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Topher Grace Reportedly Received Threatening Phone Call Over ‘BlacKkKlansman’ David Duke Role
Actor was reportedly told by an anonymous caller that his role would “ruin race relations in America.”
An anonymous caller reportedly contacted actor Topher Grace to criticize his role in Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman,” prompting the actor to get police involved.
Spike Lee’s latest offering depicts the real-life story of Ron Stallworth, an African-American detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Grace, 40, co-stars in the film as KKK Grand Wizard David Duke.
Grace said the unsettling call was made to his cell phone on August 15, just days after the film hit theaters.
The caller, who Grace reportedly described as "angry and aggressive," used a homophobic slur in reference to the "70's Show" actor, and claimed his most recent turn as Duke, a notorious white supremacist, would “ruin” race relations in America, according to TMZ.
Grace reported the incident to police, who took a report, TMZ said.
Grace wasn't the only person connected with the film to get a concerning phone call.
Stallworth, in an August 6 interview with NBC’s Nightly News, revealed that he had gotten a call from Duke himself after he watched a trailer for the film.
“He wanted to talk about the fact that he’s concerned about how he is going to be portrayed in this film,” Stallworth said. “He’s only seen the trailer and in the trailer, it makes him off to be a buffoonish cartoonish idiot.”
Stallworth agreed that Lee’s film portrays Duke as “kind of stupid,” but doesn't exactly object.
“He was stupid in how this whole thing transpired 40 years ago,” Stallworth said.
“BlacKkKlansmen,” based on Stallworth’s memoir, features no shortage of shocking moments, many of which are actually based on reality.
[Photo: Topher Grace arrives at the premiere of “BlacKkKlansman” at Samuel Goldwyn Theater on August 8, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. By Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic, via Getty Images]
