An upcoming show starring two well-known actresses was forced to stop production after an apparent extortion attempt on Friday.
Producers for “Lady in the Lake,” a collaboration between Apple TV+ and Endeavor Content, were reportedly threatened by locals while filming near the 200 block of Park Avenue in Baltimore.
In a statement, the Baltimore Police Department said “the locals” approached producers for the show and said they would “come back later this evening [and] shoot someone” if they did not stop filming, the Los Angeles Times reported.
They also gave producers a second option: they would “allow the production to continue” for a price of $50,000.
The Baltimore Banner described the locals as “drug dealers,” and the outlet reported producers declined to pay them any money.
Instead, they decided to shut down production for the afternoon.
“The leaders of the production decided to err on the side of caution and reschedule the shoot after they found another location,” Baltimore Police Department spokeswoman Chakia Fennoy told the Times.
In a statement of its own, Endeavor Content provided additional details to the Times. The company said two men approached a driver on the production crew for “Lady in the Lake” and pointed a gun at him before fleeing.
A company representative said the rest of the cast and crew had not yet arrived on set at the time of the incident.
Have you noticed an increase in crime in your area?
The series stars both Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram, the Times reported. Portman is an Academy Award winner, and Ingram is an up-and-comer who was nominated for an Emmy last year for her portrayal of “Jolene” in the Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit.”
“The safety and security of our crew, cast and all who work across our productions is our highest priority, and we are thankful no one was injured,” the Endeavor representative said. “Production will resume with increased security measures going forward.
“It has been a privilege filming ‘Lady in the Lake’ in Baltimore, working with its vibrant community across many areas. Our thanks and appreciation to the City of Baltimore, Mayor Brandon M. Scott, the Baltimore Film Office, Maryland Film Office and the Baltimore Police Department for their incredible support as we continue production in the great City of Baltimore and surrounding communities.”
Notably absent from that list was Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore’s progressive state’s attorney who has been deeply criticized for being soft on crime.
In March 2021, Mosby announced a previous policy barring the prosecution of so-called “low-level” crimes including drug possession, prostitution, trespassing and other misdemeanors would be made permanent, The Washington Post reported.
While crime went down in Baltimore during the pandemic, the opposite has been true since Mosby made her “progressive prosecution” permanent.
During the first six months of 2022, Baltimore recorded 177 homicides, WBFF reported. This would put the city “on pace for its deadliest year in more than a decade.”
In 2021, Baltimore ranked second in the country for homicide per capita, and this year’s numbers are on pace to surpass last year’s.
When woke prosecutors signal a hesitance to hold criminals accountable, the criminals will continue to push the limits. By allowing misdemeanors to go unpunished, Mosby fostered a culture of crime that escalated into more violent offenses.
The good news is Mosby will not be able to foster crime in Baltimore much longer, Fox News reported. She lost in the Democratic primary to defense attorney Ivan Bates, meaning her time as state’s attorney will be up at the end of this term.
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