NYT: Jeremy O. Harris Is Arrested in Japan on Suspicion of Smuggling Drugs- Page 2

[Kad]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 11:24am

kdogg36 said: "Kad said: "Yeah that’s… quite a bit of MDMA to have in one’s possession."

Who cares? As long as he's not actively hurting you with it, it's precisely none of anyone's business.

The real criminals are the legislators, police officers, and judges who execute the War on Drugs, and I hope to live to see them pay gravely for their crimes."

I agree with you but that argument does not help somebody in JOH's situation. A flagrant disregard for a country's laws, even if you do not agree with them, is going to get you in trouble. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 11:29am

Truly LOLing at anyone who thinks this will ruin his career or reputation. It’s only slightly more pills than he would probably bring to the club to share with friends. Anyone in his circle knows he does drugs and probably appreciates when he shows up to the party with his Birkin full of party favors. Dude’s a dummy, but he’s ultimately going to be just fine (and write a terrible “play” about it).

[binau]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 12:03pm

ColorTheHours048 said: "Dude’sa dummy, but he’sultimately going to be just fine (and write a terrible “play” about it)."

WE END UP BEING THE TRUE VICTIMS OF THIS CRIME!!!

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 12:09pm

quizking101 said: "Basically - he’s cooked personally and career-wise; that’s a given."

Despite the personal humiliation and loss of liberty, this could actually solidify his "legend" and help his career in the long run. Either this is the rock bottom that sets up his redemption arc or it positions him as theatre's "bad boy." Assuming he serves time, anything he writes while imprisoned will be a hot property. Maybe a few years of enforced focus and sobriety will be beneficial for his creative output (and outlook). 

 

Updated On: 12/5/25 at 12:09 PM

[SeanD2]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 12:09pm

KJisgroovy said: "That's maybe 10 pills. It's certainly possible he'll be convicted and spend time imprisoned but, I can't imagine his career is "cooked" if he goes free. This is not a serious amount of a drug that many people argue has a lot of therapeutic value. This is easily spinnable and, let's be serious, not that big of a deal.

Now. Is it extremely arrogant to think you can get away with something like this? Yea. He's the worst person. But the "crime" here isn't really a huge moral failing."

I would consider it a moral failing. Drug use in the vast majority of cases is a result of a choice (addiction isn't a choice, but the first use typically is). Jeremy O Harris is choosing to break the law because he wants to. Whether or not you agree with a law you still have to follow it or be prepared to accept the penalties for breaking it. People who choose to do illegal drugs for recreational purposes are morally inferior to those who do not. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 12:09pm

kdogg36 said: "quizking101 said: "I will never understand why people think it’s okay to bring illicitsubstances across international borders while traveling."

And I will never understand why anyone would think it's okay to throw someone in a cage because they're carrying... well, whatever the **** they want to carry as long as it's not actively hurting you."

This argument could very easily slip into chaos, but think about how someone who is actually a drug smuggler would make this same argument. Even small amounts of certain substances can easily do harm to someone who has never used it and doesn’t understand the repercussions. It’s not like your dealer is turning around and saying “take a maximum of one every 12 hours for optimal vibes”

One or two tabs is one things, but he brought enough with him that could easily be at least 10 doses, and though I don’t think he would be selling them, it’s also relatively hard to look at the amount and make an effective counter argument that he intended to use it all himself. The argument for “therapeutic value” is also specious at best since any findings of that nature are still being sussed out in clinical trials in the United States and there is no recommended dosing for therapeutic use. So, any “therapeutic value” is basically self-medicating under the umbrella of a substance use disorder.

Also, even if he has influential friends, is that really going to ultimately matter here? If he goes to jail for 7 years, that would be long enough to forget anyone and their place in your life.

Updated On: 12/5/25 at 12:09 PM

[blug]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 12:22pm

All these people getting off on someone being incarcerated in a corrupt prison system because they don't like his plays or his personality is really sickening. 

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 12:30pm

Agreed, but TBF the guy in question would probably be thrilled about all the online snark and bad hot takes. It's kind of his vibe. 

It's definitely "sickening," in both senses of the word. 

Updated On: 12/5/25 at 12:30 PM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 12:32pm

It was also his choice and his choice alone that put him in this situation, whether you agree with the system or not.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 12:42pm

His play about this will begin with him on stage with screenshots of these comments flashing, as guards mercilessly beat him as he screams. It’ll be very cinematic and take place in an underground tunnel in a puddle of water as rain falls down on him as he screams. Lights shift focus to the “real Jeremy” standing on the other side of the stage, watching. He speaks 

“Yup, that’s me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.”

Nine hour play cycle begins. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 12:52pm

Just like his "career" of being a fame whore, this is absolutely hilarious. A one-minute search would let him know the drug laws in Japan are incredibly strict, they have a 99% conviction rate, and he is absolutely no one to them. Good luck.

And I will never understand why anyone would think it's okay to throw someone in a cage because they're carrying... well, whatever the **** they want to carry as long as it's not actively hurting you.

Ridiculous, unrealistic take regarding drugs and the horrifying overdose rate in this Country.

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 12:52pm

Jordan Catalano said: "His play about this will begin with him onstage with screenshots of these comments flashing, as guards mercilessly beat him as he screams. It’ll be very cinematic and take place in an underground tunnel in a puddle of water as rain falls down on him as he screams. Lights shift focus to the “realJeremy” standing on the other side of the stage, watching. He speaks

“Yup, that’s me.You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.”

Nine hour play cycle begins."

The real life version of "8 Gay Men With AIDS: A Poem in Many Hours" from The Other Two

[Kad]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 1:03pm

quizking101 said: "
Also, even if he has influential friends, is that really going to ultimately matter here? If he goes to jail for 7 years, that would be long enough to forget anyone and their place in your life."

That is the maximum sentence and although convictions are near certain, lesser sentences are common. It's not like he was smuggling in bricks of cocaine. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 1:11pm

Jordan Catalano said: "His play about this will begin with him onstage with screenshots of these comments flashing, as guards mercilessly beat him as he screams. It’ll be very cinematic and take place in an underground tunnel in a puddle of water as rain falls down on him as he screams. Lights shift focus to the “realJeremy” standing on the other side of the stage, watching. He speaks

“Yup, that’s me.You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.”

Nine hour play cycle begins."

**blocked and reported as a threat** 😆 😆 

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 1:19pm

Harris is black, queer, American and has a loud and forceful personality: four things the Japanese famously endure through gritted teeth. It’s quite likely they see him as emblematic of all the worst parts of tourism and throw the book at him.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 2:02pm

I confess I have no sympathy for him and hope he serves a good deal of time if guilty. His ego landed him here. Maybe he'll learn something and grow up.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 2:06pm

kdogg36 said: "Kad said: "Yeah that’s… quite a bit of MDMA to have in one’s possession."

Who cares? As long as he's not actively hurting you with it, it's precisely none of anyone's business.

The real criminals are the legislators, police officers, and judges who execute the War on Drugs, and I hope to live to see them pay gravely for their crimes."

Yes but also, who's to say he was bringing it just for himself? Or who he's going to use it? Was he bringing it to sell it? It's easy to say it's not actively hurting you, but however he's using it can hurt someone else.

Do I think the laws in Asia are terrifying punitive? Absolutely. We had a well-known Korean actor take his own life just at the allegations recently. But JOH can still be a POS for traveling with recreational drugs.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 2:12pm

ColorTheHours048 said: "Two things can be true here: 1) many drug laws are not only extremely outdated, but unnecessarily punitive; and 2) this man should absolutely have known better than to travel to Japan carrying that much of an illegal substance."

This.

His career will be fine. He'll come out with plenty of stories to tell. He'll just have to rebuild upon release, and it's unlikely that Trump or a future president would cut a deal with the Japanese government to get him back.

Poor Williamstown must be scrambling!

[Kad]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 2:17pm

Wasn't his stint at Williamstown just a one-season thing?

Edit: I was incorrect, he was brought on for a 3-year term 

Updated On: 12/5/25 at 02:17 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 2:17pm

Some context as someone who has lived in Japan: The government takes a particularly hard line against amphetamines due to cultural/generational trauma associated with them. Japanese soldiers in WWII were fed amphetamines by the Imperial Government, which led to sky-high rates of amphetamine addiction that persisted for decades. Even Adderral is illegal in Japan, and I personally know someone who was detained (but not ultimately charged) for bringing their legally prescribed ADHD medication into the country without making a proper declaration. So it really doesn't matter if Harris only had a small amount of ecstasy on his person; an explicitly illicit amphetamine is about the worst thing you could be caught holding when entering Japan.

Updated On: 12/5/25 at 02:17 PM

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 2:18pm

Regardless of how long he might go to jail and how it "cements his status as a bad boy", if I was on the Board at Williamstown I would be thinking if I still want him running the ship

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 2:22pm

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Regardless of how long he might go to jail and how it "cements his status as a bad boy", if I was on the Board at Williamstown I would be thinking if I still want him running the ship"

WTF should absolutely replace him and to not would be an insult to a lot of other artists who deserve the role.

[quizking101]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 2:26pm

iluvtheatertrash said: "BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Regardless of how long he might go to jail and how it "cements his status as a bad boy", if I was on the Board at Williamstown I would be thinking if I still want him running the ship"

WTF should absolutely replace him and to not would be an insult to a lot of other artists who deserve the role."

I mean, severe conviction or not, it’s gonna be real hard to plan a theatre festival from a Japanese prison cell. There isn’t really a choice here…

[Idiot]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 2:38pm

I just really want to believe he started yelling "Starbucks!" when they detained him.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 12/5/25 at 2:39pm

Totally, QuizKing. I just meant I hope they don't do an interim and then try to welcome him back.