Dustin Lance Black was accused of shoplifting and he’s not taking it lying down.
While shopping at a Woolworths grocery store in Australia, the Oscar-winning screenwriter was taken aside by security and questioned.
Black wrote: “OMG! Was just stopped and accused of shoplifting @woolworths in the Gold Coast! Then out of countless folks with bags a search was demanded of mine.
“Thanks for the warm welcome to #AUSTRALIA @woolworths! Respect customers’ privacy much? Shame. [sic]”
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OMG! Was just stopped & accused of shoplifting @woolworths in the Gold Coast! ?Then out of countless folks with bags a search was demanded of mine. Thanks for the warm welcome to #AUSTRALIA @woolworths! Respect customers’ privacy much? Shame. pic.twitter.com/uttZmqQkrL
— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) April 11, 2018
The experience apparently had quite the impact on him, as he responded to many of the tweets he got back:
LOL. I didn’t know if I should shout or laugh. Was sure I was on candid camera. Warning all tourists! Steer clear of this very strange place.
— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) April 11, 2018
Good question. I asked the same. That’s when they got nervous, started walking in circles, and stopped making eye contact. ????
— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) April 11, 2018
I am. And I still will. But any kidding aside, I do suggest folks avoid this odd place. It was very aggressive and strange. Not a way to treat anyone, particularly in a time when you’d think AUSTRALIA would like to show its best to world. @woolworths #Fail
— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) April 11, 2018
So targeting & treating people as criminals for absolutely no reason & w/ no explanation (even when asked), chasing them down as they leave the store (after having made a purchase) & accusing them of a crime is the norm in AU or just @woolworths? ? Vile way to treat people.
— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) April 11, 2018
He followed that up by responding to another person’s separate tweet who asked if the store had apologized:
OMG. NO. No apology at all. Just an accusatory zombielike look in their eyes. So I just got a refund for the drink I’d just PURCHASED and went elsewhere. So silly. Tourists be warned! https://t.co/lrl9bGXsKn
— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) April 11, 2018
While the twitterverse appeared to pick up and echo back Black’s outrage over the misunderstanding, one comment seems to sum it up nicely:
It’s not really a big deal
— Nick Names Nuts (@nicknamesnuts) April 11, 2018
Black was in Australia to support husband Tom Daley in the Commonwealth Games, who was forced to withdraw from part of the competition due to injury.
Lazycrockett
Gurl you ain’t Winona.
ChrisK
Rodeo Drive shops and their out of this world prices. That’s where the real crime is.
Daniel-Reader
Was it an old fashion shakedown of someone deemed well-off and he was smart enough not to capitulate? Some places it is all about targeting tourists sadly.
Coreydnyc
And this is what’s traumatizing to white people? seriously its happened to me too many times to count…just a little taste of being black in America
ChrisK
Lance is just showing his privilege. I know Walmart does it routinely.
Mack
I was in a Walmart a couple of months ago where they targeted an elderly Latino. He was carry shovels and a broom. The lady stopped and demanded his receipt as he tried to balance the handles of the items he was carrying to get to the receipt, he dropped one and she kicked it as he gave her his receipt. I was right behind him and told her off for being rude toward him. She waved me through but I bent down and picked up his shovel and helped him out the door. To this day she sees me and turns the other way when I come it.
Brian
So just say no and keep walking. If it’s not a store like Costco, where I’m sure you agree to have your receipt checked somewhere the agreement when you sign up, then you are under no obligation to show them shit. You paid for it, it’s your personal property now. If they don’t think you were shoplifting, they’re probably not going to do anything, and if they do, make em drag you into the store and then sue them afterward.
derek mcgillicuddy
Who would steal or even shop at a Woolworth?
RichW-SF
The Woolworth Group in Australia has no relationship whatsoever with the former F.W. Woolworth’s “five-and-dime” stores in the U.S. There are two major food supermarkets in Australia: Woolworth and Coles.
As an expat in Sydney during 2014, I shopped at both chains; and, just as Safeway or Kroger have some nice stores and some not-so-nice, the same situation holds true for Woolworths. That fact does not give the Woolworth employees to treat customers in such a rude manner as Dustin Lance Black says that they did to him.
That said, there was often a person at exit of both Coles and Woolworth randomly checking bags, much like the exits at Costco stores in the U.S. So, I just got used to providing my receipt, smiling, and opening my shopping bags.
JK 1984
Really?
Most stores have signs at the front saying your bags/childs buggy/etc may be searched. At least in my country and in Australia (not sure about the USA but assume it’s similar).
It happens to me occasionally, just like lots of other people. If you aren’t stealing anything then there is nothing to worry about.
Get over yourself.
Mack
Or was it a “religious zealot” targeting Black because he’s gay? I’m not sure how he was dressed but his normal appearance doesn’t point to someone who is hard up and need to shoplift. There must be more to this story.
ShowMeGuy
Could have been getting targeted for a friendly strip search.
Brian
He looks like a mannequin now, it’s a lot easier to just get your jollies that way in the back storeroom.
kiriakis1
He’s a Black, but he’s not black, so of course he’s getting the vapours over something black people go through over and over again.
FnameLname
I’m more upset that Austrailia still has “Woolworths” because here in the states they have been gone for over 20 years. I miss Woolworths!
jd.cali
Again… looking for free press. This is a non-issue. But of course he needs to go to Twitter/Insta/Etc and tell the world how cruelly the world treats him. More me time…. YAWN
dustashed
Searches like that should be routine for all customers tbh
dustashed
if you aren’t doing anything wrong, why make a big deal out of being searched.
random searches should be routine tbh