Leslie Jordan: I threw iced tea, not iced coffee, at homophobe
"I feel I owe my friends an explanation."
Leslie Jordan has clarified he threw iced tea at an angry homophobic man – and not iced coffee – who was yelling gay slurs in a Starbucks Restaurant.
Best known for his role on sitcom Will & Grace as Karen’s “sexually ambiguous” arch nemesis Beverley Leslie, the 60-year-old actor dispelled earlier news reporting which said he left a Los Angeles Starbucks patron dripping in cold iced coffee over the weekend.
The dispute began after a group of men were asked to leave the Santa Monica cafe after one yelled anti-gay slurs, at which point Leslie approached them and eventually launched the refreshingly chilled drink at them.
“I was hoping to remain silent on the incident at Starbucks but somehow the story found legs and has made its way into the press. I feel I owe my friends an explanation,” said Leslie in a public statement on his Facebook page.
“Truth be told it was ‘sweet’ iced tea, not coffee. I am a ‘sweet’ mannered Southern boy who was taught not to start a fight.
“Nobody ever told me I could not end one. I refused to sit and watch these hate crimes continue. I guess our work for equality is not done yet!”
Leslie said while it is “all well and good” to be hailed a hero, he regrets losing his temper.
“My heroes in life always kept their cool,” he said. While police made no arrests and recorded no crime during the incident, Los Angeles police have logged the disturbance as a “hate incident”. Jordan did not face any action for throwing his drink at the men.