What Did Ezra Miller Do? Controversy Explained, Drama Timeline

Publish date: 2024-07-11

After a series of highly publicized arrests, abuse allegations, misdemeanor convictions, and acknowledged mental health challenges, the answer to the question of what Ezra Miller did sheds light on what accountability looks like in Hollywood.

On June 12, 2023, Miller made their first public appearance in months at the premiere of The Flash, DC’s newest superhero film directed by Andrés Muschietti and headed up by entertainment giant, Warner Bros. Pictures. Miller, as Vulture noted, “was supposed to be a queer blockbuster-movie star,” having built their career through indie films. Their big break came in 2011’s We Need To Talk About Kevin, a psychological thriller story of a mother (Tilda Swinton) coming to terms with the horrors her teenage son (Miller) has committed.

A year later, Miller co-stars in Perks of Being a Wallflower and launches them into heartthrob territory. It’s during the press for Perks, and an interview with Out Magazine, during which Miller officially comes out. “I’m queer,” they said. “I have a lot of really wonderful friends who are of very different sexes and genders. I am very much in love with no one in particular. I’ve been trying to figure out relationships, you know?”

Miller was cast as The Flash back in 2014 in the DC Comics cinematic universe, but in 2020, troubling behavior began to emerge. This is everything we know.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233) for confidential support.

A timeline of Miller’s controversies.

June 2011: Ezra Miller is charged with marijuana possession
Just before Perks was released, the then-18-year-old Miller was arrested and charged with marijuana possession on June 22, 2022, during a routine traffic stop in New Jersey, per TMZ. A judge dropped the case, whoever, and Miller faced two citations of disorderly conduct and ordered to pay $600. “I don’t feel like there’s any need to hide the fact that I smoke pot,” they would tell New York Magazine. “It’s a harmless herbal substance that increases sensory appreciation.”
April 2020: Ezra Miller “grabs” fan by the throat
In April 2020, news broke that Miller was involved in a “serious altercation” at a bar in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik and escorted from the venue. A video emerged in which Miller appeared to choke a female fan. The seven-second video shows a man saying, ”Oh, you wanna fight? That’s what you wanna do?” to a young woman, who appears to be jokingly preparing herself for a fight and is smiling. Miller then grabs the girl by the throat and throws her to the ground.
January 2022: Ezra Miller Threatens Members of the KKK
In a since-deleted Instagram video, Ezra Miller appeared to threaten members of a Ku Klux Klan chapter in North Carolina, per the Hollywood Reporter.
“Look, if y’all want to die, I suggest just killing yourselves with your own guns. OK?” they said in the video. “Otherwise, keep doing exactly what you’re doing right now — and you know what I am talking about — then, you know, we’ll do it for you, if that’s really what you want. Talk to you soon, OK. Bye.” Miller wrote in the caption, “Please disseminate (gross!) this video to all those whom it may concern. This is not a joke and even though I do recognize myself to be a clown please trust me and take this seriously. Let’s save some live [sic] now ok babies? Love you like woah.”
March 2022: Ezra Miller charged with disorderly conduct and harassment
Miller faced criminal charges in relation to two altercations at a karaoke bar in Hawaii. The local police department confirmed they’d been charged with disorderly conduct and harassment, during which the actor got “agitated” by people singing karaoke. “Miller began yelling obscenities and at one point grabbed the microphone from a 23-year-old woman singing karaoke and later lunged at a 32-year-old man playing darts,” added the HPD, per People. “The bar owner asked Miller to calm down several times.” Miller pleaded no contest to the disorderly conduct charge and was fined $500.
“During the course of their investigation, police determined that the individual, later identified as Ezra Miller, became irate after being asked to leave and reportedly threw a chair, striking a 26-year-old female on the forehead, resulting in an approximate half-inch cut,” read a news release at the time.
March 2022: Ezra Miller faces a restraining order
The day after Miller was released on $500 bail, a Hilo couple filed a petition for a temporary restraining order against Miller, claiming Miller “burst into the bedroom of the petitioner(s) and threatened” the alleged male victim by “saying ‘I will bury you and your slut wife,’” according to People. The document also claimed that Miller stole some of the alleged victims’ personal belongings, including a social security card, wallet, passport, driver’s license, and bank cards. The Hilo couple eventually dropped the restraining order against Miller, per the Associated Press.
April 2022: Ezra Miller is arrested for second-degree assault
On April 19, Miller is arrested again, this time for second-degree assault after police responded to a call at around 1:10 AM at a gathering at a private residence in the Leilani Estates subdivision in lower Puna.
“During the course of their investigation, police determined that the individual, later identified as Ezra Miller, became irate after being asked to leave and reportedly threw a chair, striking a 26-year-old female on the forehead, resulting in an approximate half-inch cut,” read the news release from the Hawaii Police Department.
June 2022: Ezra Miller is accused of grooming
Attorney and activist Chase Iron Eyes and his pediatrician wife Sara Jumping Eagle claimed that Miller had been manipulating and controlling their daughter Tokata Iron Eyes, who goes by the name Gibson, according to court documents filed on June 7 in Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court, per People.
They claimed Miller had groomed their child from the age of 12 after taking “an immediate and apparently innocent liking” to them, adding that Miller demonstrated a “pattern of corrupting a minor,” allegedly drugging their child over the years and displaying “cult-like and psychologically manipulative, controlling behavior.”
Later, Gibson issues a statement on Instagram, sharing that Miller “has only provided loving support and invaluable protection. I am now aware of the severity of emotional and psychological manipulation I was made to endure while in my parents home. I am an adult and I deserve to feel authority in my own body.” Chase and Sara told People that their child doesn’t have a phone and were doubtful Gibson had written the statement.
June 2022: Another parent accuses Ezra Miller of “menacing their family”
A 12-year-old non-binary child was granted an order of protection against Ezra Miller, after alleging that the actor menaced their family one evening in their downstairs neighbor’s home and acted inappropriately toward the nonbinary youngster per the Daily Beast.
According to a neighbor, Miller once focused their attention on the then-11-year-old, saying, “I’ve talked extensively with your child, and they have a lot of power to them. At one point, you’re going to realize that you don’t have any control over them anymore. They’re an elevated being, and they would be lucky to have someone like me guide them.”
June 2022: Ezra Miller houses young mother in “unsafe environment” for children
A Rolling Stone report said that Miller had been housing a 25-year-old mother and her three children in their Vermont farm, with allegedly unattended guns strewn around the home. “[Ezra’s] home ranch has been a healing haven for us,” she told Rolling Stone. “They may have firearms for self-defense purposes and they are stored in a part of the house that the children never go in… My kids are able to relax more into their healing because of the safety and nurturing Ezra has been providing for them.” The children’s father, however was worried and claimed he had not been able to see or speak to them since they left. “I got a bad feeling in my stomach,” the father told Rolling Stone. “I do want to go get my kids, they mean the fucking world to me.”
In August, state police tried to serve an emergency care order to the woman, requiring the children to be taken away from her care and Miller’s home. But Miller claimed the family hadn’t lived there in months, which the Vermont State Attorney’s office said seemed like an attempt to “evade service” of the order, according to the court document obtained by Rolling Stone.
August 2022: Ezra Miller charged with burglarizing a home in Vermont
According to Vermont State Police, Miller was accused of burglarizing a home where they allegedly stole “several bottles of alcohol”. Police said they had “probable cause” to charge Miller “with the offense of felony burglary into an unoccupied dwelling.”
In October 2022, Miller pleaded not guilty to one “felony count of burglary into an occupied dwelling,” as well as a second “minor charge of petit larceny,” the Bennington Banner reported.
In January 2023, Miller and their lawyer attended a hearing at Vermont’s Bennington County Superior Court, where they pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Rather than pursue a jury trial, Miller plead guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor unlawful trespass, admitting they were on the victim’s property May 1, 2022, in Stamford, Vermont, without the owner’s permission.
August 2022: Miller Apologizes For ‘Past Behavior’
In a statement shared with People, Miller acknowledged a troubling year. “Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment,” Miller said in a statement. “I want to apologize to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behavior. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life.”
April 2023: The Flash director comments on Ezra Miller’s behavior
During a Q&A at the Warner Bros. lot, The Flash director Andy Muschietti and producer Barbara Muschietti spoke publicly for the first time. “Ezra is well now. We’re all hoping that they get better… They’re taking the steps to recovery,” Muschietti responded to the question of how Miller was doing. “They’re dealing with mental health issues, but they’re well. We talked to them not too long ago, and they’re very committed to getting better.”
A month later, Muschietti stood by Miller despite their past behavior, saying there was no discussion of Miller being recast. “I don’t think there’s anyone that can play that character [The Flash] as well as they did,” Muschietti said. “The other depictions of the character are great, but this particular vision of the character, they just excelled in doing it.”
June 2023: Ezra Miller steps out at The Flash premiere
Ezra Miller’s first public appearance since the controversies in 2022 began, Miller thanked Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Film Group heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy and DC Studios stewards James Gunn and Peter Safran for “your grace and discernment and care in the context of my life. And in bringing this moment to fruition,” according to Variety.