Frances McDormand’s Suspected Oscar Thief Will Not Face Charges

48-year-old party attendee lifted McDormand’s Best Actress award at the 2018 Governors Ball

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The man who lifted Frances McDormand’s Oscar after the 2018 Academy Awards had his charges dismissed on Tuesday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office confirmed to TheWrap.

48-year-old Terry Bryant was accused of grabbing the Oscar during the post-ceremony Governors Ball after McDormand set the award down on a table. Bryant picked up the Oscar and posted a since-deleted video of himself with it, only to be charged with felony theft later on.

“The District Attorney’s Office today told the court that we are unable to proceed at this time. The defense moved to dismiss the case, and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta dismissed it,” read a statement from the D.A.’s office. The exact reasons for why prosecutors did not proceed were not given.

McDormand received the Oscar for her work on the Martin McDonagh film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” giving a speech encouraging actors to demand inclusion riders in their contracts. Inclusion riders are a clause that can be added to an actor or filmmaker’s contract requiring a certain level of racial, gender, or LGBT diversity on a project.

Representatives for McDormand did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.

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