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'Will & Grace' Actor Throws Drink At Homophobic Jerks In WeHo
Leslie Jordan confronted guys yelling homophobic slurs at a Starbucks in WeHo (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
A Will & Grace actor is being called a hero after confronting some homophobic jerks in WeHo and sacrificing his Starbucks drink in the process.
Leslie Jordan, the 60-year-old actor and playwright who portrayed a Southern belle and Karen Walker's arch nemesis on Will & Grace, was at the coffee shop on Santa Monica Boulevard near La Cienega Boulevard when the whole ordeal went down a little after 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Wehoville reports.
Cops told TMZ that three men were standing in line at Starbucks and talking loudly about their sex lives. Witness Joseph Daniels told Wehoville that the guys were also saying anti-gay slurs like "faggot." Daniels told them they were being rude, and a Starbucks manager asked them to leave. That's when things erupted, and one of the guys screamed out, "You will die, fucking faggots," as he and his friends left Starbucks.
"It was very scary and unexpected," Daniels said.
Jordan, who stands at 4 feet 11 inches tall, followed them outside to reprimand them. "Leslie Jordan ran out to tell them, 'Get out of our house. Get out of here,'" Daniels told CBS Los Angeles. "I just think he's a Southern belle that snapped."
One of the guys lunged at Jordan, and the actor responded by tossing his iced tea at him, Daniels said. "Then (another) guy threw his drink to hit me," Daniels added.
TMZ has video of part of the confrontation:
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L.A. County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, and handcuffed the men because they would not calm down. They weren't arrested because there wasn't a crime that was committed, though authorities have filed their names under a "hate incident."
Here are photos of the men cuffed:
Actor Leslie Jordan -- Confrontation in WeHo Over Homophobic Slur (PHOTOS) http://t.co/1IZGAZunHr pic.twitter.com/Z7RlugcW3g
— Los Angeles News Now (@lanewsnow) July 30, 2015
Daniels told Wehoville that deputies urged Jordan and others to not file charges against the three guys because that could lead them to filing charges against Jordan for assault for throwing his drink at one of them. Jordan was not arrested, either. Daniels said that when the three guys were released, they were still yelling out "faggots" at the men as they walked away.
Locals are seeing Jordan as a hero. "He stood up for the community, for all of us," local resident Pati Arana told CBS Los Angeles.
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