Denzel Washington channeled his tough guy persona from movies like Training Day and The Equalizer during an uncomfortable encounter in public with an aggressive autograph seeker.
In a clip uploaded online, Washington, 70, was seen trading harsh words with a man affiliated with the GTVReality Channel who approached him while he was seated in a vehicle in New York City in August, hoping to get items signed.
After Washington apparently turned the autograph seeker’s request down, he was met with taunts referencing his past battle with alcoholism – as the two-time Oscar winner was told by the autograph seeker that it’s ‘better when you’re drinking.’
The A-list actor didn’t take the barb lightly, calling the autograph seeker ‘disrespectful’ and stating hadn’t consumed alcohol in 15 years, which the autograph seeker said was a ‘good lie.’
At that point, the autograph seeker tried to reverse course with the hostility and curry favor with the A-list actor by telling him what a big fan he was of his 1992 collaboration with Spike Lee, Malcolm X. The change of tone seemed to resonate with the two-time Oscar winner, who asked the autographed seeker if he believes in God.
Daily Mail has reached out to reps for Washington for further comment on the story.
Denzel Washington, 70, channeled his tough guy persona from movies like Training Day and The Equalizer during an uncomfortable encounter in public with an aggressive autograph seeker. Pictured May 19, 2025 in Cannes, France
The autograph seeker said that he didn’t mean any harm, that he just gets autographs, and again asked Washington to sign an item for him, telling him ‘it takes two seconds to help’ out by signing an item.
The Mount Vernon, New York-born actor didn’t sign anything, but did invite the autograph seeker in closer to his vehicle, where he showed him an image on his phone, asking him what he thought it was.
The autograph seeker said he thought the picture was of God, at which point the A-list actor asked him, ‘Who do you think took the picture?’
Washington then shared an anecdote about the photo, and sternly warned the autograph seeker, ‘Listen to me: You can play games with me … [but] be careful with you talk to me about God.’
Washington has made no secret of his faith: He was baptized late last year; and famously told Will Smith (after he hit Chris Rock) at the 2022 Oscars, ‘At your highest moment, be careful – that’s when the devil comes for you.’
In the comment section in which the clip originated from, many Instagram users appeared to take Washington’s side in the conflict.
‘Looks like you provoked someone and got disrespectful throwing the drinking comment out because you didn’t get what you wanted,’ said one user. ‘Can’t judge a man just because he doesn’t deliver what you request.
‘People have lives and not everyone is in the mood to live on your terms on your requests.’
The Mount Vernon, New York-born actor pictured in August in Brooklyn
The Academy Award-winning actor chastised a photographer at Cannes last May
In the comment section in which the clip originated from, many Instagram users appeared to take Washington’s side in the conflict
Another user said Washington picked up on a bad vibe the autograph seeker was giving off.
‘Denzel read your energy and that s*** was off,’ the user said, adding of the multiple autograph requests: ‘No one obligated to give you s*** in this world.’
Another user echoed a similar sentiment, saying, ‘He don’t owe nobody nothing. When you buy a ticket to go see a movie or rent a movie that’s what you get. You don’t own Denzel Washington.’
Other users took issue with the autographed seeker’s conduct in the brief clip.
‘What did you say to him for him to respond “get away from me”? We need the whole video,’ said one user.
Another remarked: ‘Why did you accuse him of drinking after he told you it had been 15 years? You’re asking him for something.’
One user said that the exchange had a cinematic field to it with Washington’s presence and strong words: ‘Bro created a whole movie scene right here!!’
