The Man Who Allegedly Stole Frances McDormand's Oscar Sees His Felony Charges Dropped
The man accused of stealing the Best Actress Oscar Frances McDormand won last year for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri had the felony charges against him dropped on Tuesday.
Terry Bryant, 48, was arrested last March on suspicion of felony theft after he allegedly stole McDormand’s gold statue from a table at the Governors Ball, the annual gala following the Academy Awards.
He was seen holding the Oscar in a video posted to his own Facebook Live account, boasting, “This is mine. We got it tonight baby!”
But the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office declared on Tuesday that Bryant was off the hook.
“We are unable to proceed at this time,” a representative for the D.A. told The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline in a statement. “The defense moved to dismiss the case, and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta dismissed it.”
Prosecutors told Ohta they don’t have any intention of refiling the matter “at this time,” Deadline reported.
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Bryant, who was out on $20,000 bail, had pled not guilty. He maintained his innocence in a post on Facebook.
“Oscars Case DROPPED AND DISMISSED TODAY!!!” he wrote, captioning a photo of him again holding the trophy. “I did not do what they said I did ! WE WON BECAUSE I’M 100 PERCENT INNOCENT!”
His lawyer, Daniel Brookman, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Meanwhile, McDormand was reunited with her Oscar hours after it went missing.
While she and her husband, Joel Coen, left the party without the prize, security eventually found it and return it to the actress.
“I can confirm that after a brief time apart, Frances and her Oscar were happily reunited last night,” McDormand’s rep told PEOPLE at the time. “They celebrated their reunion with a double cheeseburger from In-N-Out.”
McDormand was the frontrunner leading up to the Academy Awards as she swept the major awards shows in the months before. The veteran actress picked up the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA awards on her way to claim the big prize.
It was her second Oscar, after taking home the Best Actress honor in 1997 for her role in Fargo.
