Stage and screen playwright and producer Jeremy O. Harris is a free man, having evaded charges following an arrest on suspicion of violating Japan's Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act last month. The Slave Play writer was reportedly detained at Okinawa's Naha Airport November 16 after a customs officer found MDMA (also known as ecstasy) in one of Harris' bags. He had been in Japanese custody for three weeks. Per The New York Times, Harris has been released without charges, but is staying in Japan to research and write an upcoming project.

Japan's drug laws are among the world's strictest. If found guilty, Harris reportedly could have faced up to seven years in prison. Similar situations involving celebrities in the past ended in defendants like Paul McCartney barred from visiting the country for years.

Harris is one of the most prolific young writers and producers in the entertainment industry, rising to prominence with his Tony-nominated Slave Play in 2018. His stage work also includes Daddy: A Melodrama, Black Exhibition, Yell: A Documentary of My Time Here, and Spirit of the People, the latter of which made its world premiere this summer at Williamstown Theatre Festival.

As a producer, Harris has created several play commissioning initiatives, and co-produced Ain't No Mo' and The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window on Broadway, and Invasive Species at Off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre. On screen, he produced and co-wrote Zola, and acted in Gossip Girl, Emily in Paris, and The Sweet East. He has also produced Irma Vep and Euphoria.