Actor Kiefer Sutherland looked completely untouchable as he stepped out for the first time since his January 12 arrest for an alleged attack on an Uber driver.
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The 59-year-old star of Designated Survivor and the 24 series was booked for suspicion of felony criminal threats after police say he assaulted the rideshare driver in Los Angeles and got into the car without consent.
He was released the same day after posting a $50,000 bond like it was pocket change.
On Monday, the LA County District Attorney's Office sent the case back to police for more digging, keeping a legal cloud hanging over him.
Not that it shows. In new photos obtained by the Daily Mail, the two-time Emmy winner strutted alongside longtime partner Cindy Vela at New York's JFK airport in a decidedly hipster ensemble - gigantic floppy hat, oversized leather tote, and a guitar in hand - as if he was headed to Coachella music festival, not huddling with attorneys.
In a cheeky move, he then hailed an Uber - the taxi company at the center of his arrest - to whisk him away from the airport.
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Kiefer Sutherland looked completely untouchable as he stepped out for the first time since his January 12 arrest for an alleged attack on an Uber driver
The 59-year-old star of Designated Survivor and the 24 series was booked for suspicion of felony criminal threats after police say he assaulted the rideshare driver in Los Angelesand got into the car without consent
In a cheeky move, he then hailed an Uber - the taxi company at the center of his arrest - to whisk him away from the airport
Vela, the 47-year-old Texan beauty and 2000 Miss Latina winner, opted for a peacoat and skinny jeans. The couple have been an item since 2014.
'Kiefer is in good spirits and is not letting the incident from a few weeks ago affect him. He's going to let everything pan out the way it pans out and is just looking to continue working, do his thing and avoid any future drama,' an insider told the Daily Mail.
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'He has no intention of talking about it in any interviews, but if a paparazzi, he will be very level headed. He is cool, calm and collected most of the time, and he wants that to be how people think of him, instead of an argument in an Uber.'
The arrest last month was just the latest in a long, colorful history of run-ins with the law for Sutherland, who has three birds tattooed on his right arm to mark each of his stints behind bars.
His legal record goes back decades: he was first arrested for driving under the influence and allegedly carrying a loaded weapon in 1989.
He pleaded no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving, and the weapons charge was dropped.
In 1993, another DUI landed him in hot water, though he opted for over 200 hours of community service instead of a short jail stint.
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The two-time Emmy winner strutted alongside longtime partner Cindy Vela at New York's JFK airport
Sutherland's decidedly hipster ensemble - gigantic floppy hat, oversized leather tote, and a guitar in hand - made it look as if he was headed to Coachella music festival, not huddling with attorneys
History repeated itself in 2004, when a DUI in California resulted in five years probation, 50 hours of community service, and an alcohol treatment program.
Before, in 2007, yet another DUI this time landed him behind bars for violating probation. He pleaded no contest and served 48 days in jail.
'I'm very disappointed in myself,' he admitted at the time, apologizing for the 'poor judgment' that had landed him in trouble.
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Sutherland served his sentence at Glendale City Jail, reportedly tackling laundry and kitchen duties, while remaining on probation for five years, completing an 18-month alcohol program, and attending weekly therapy sessions for six months.
Reflecting on jail during a 2008 Late Night With David Letterman appearance, he quipped: 'You ever get a brochure for a holiday and you get there and it's not quite what you're expecting? Jail is not that. It's exactly as advertised.'
Trouble followed him to New York in 2009, when he turned himself in for headbutting fashion designer Jack McCollough at a nightclub.
Weeks later, Sutherland and McCollough issued a joint statement via his attorney apologizing, and misdemeanor assault charges were dropped.
In 2020, he was again arrested for allegedly driving under the influence after an illegal U-turn in Hollywood, though the outcome was never made public.
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Sutherland pictured at the Glendale City Jail December 5, 2007 in Glendale, California, as he began a 48-day sentence in a drunken driving conviction
Kiefer is the son of late acting legend Donald Sutherland, who died during the summer of 2024
That long rap sheet underscores Sutherland's well-documented struggles with alcohol - something he's spoken about candidly over the years.
'It's something I've always enjoyed… if something was wrong in my life I didn't go drown my sorrows I was the other one… and trust me I've had an extraordinary life and one of the things I like to do is go out with my friends and tell stories and have a bunch of drinks,' he said in 2016.
'Having said that I can also look back on my life and tell you very squarely that the only bad things that have ever happened to me in my life have been because I like to go to bars and have drinks with my friends so that's kind of been a push and pull all of my life.
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'I would rather work really hard so I could still have some of those times than to just simply stop and that's a choice I've made and I live with that choice.'
Born into Hollywood royalty as the son of the actor Donald Sutherland and actress Shirley Douglas, Kiefer seemed destined for the big screen.
He first grabbed attention in the 1980s with movies The Bay Boy (1984) and Stand By Me (1986), before hitting cult status with The Lost Boys (1987), Young Guns (1988), Flatliners (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), and The Three Musketeers (1993).
Real stardom, however, arrived in 2001 with the hit-series 24, and Sutherland's Jack Bauer becoming a TV anti-hero icon, willing to torture to save the day.
The role racked up awards: an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and two SAG Awards, capped off with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008.
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Kiefer in 2006 won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his work in the role of Jack Bauer in 24
He portrayed vicious vampire David in the ensemble cast of 1987's The Lost Boys with Jami Gertzf
By 2009, he was allegedly earning $550,000 per episode, with a $30million three-season deal as executive producer.
But the following decade proved tricky.
Aside from roles in sci-fi drama Melancholia (2011) and thriller series Designated Survivor, Sutherland struggled to land major projects - something he's openly acknowledged.
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'After 24, I thought I would just naturally have a bunch of opportunities staring me in the face. But the truth is, if you don't create those opportunities, they're just not there,' he said last year.
'As someone who likes to work, there have been times when I haven't worked for a while, because I didn't do a lot of the planning that's required.'
He added: 'I'm sliding into 60 years old at 100 miles an hour and I'm acutely aware of the fact that people cared more about what I thought when I was 30 than they do now.'