‘Slave Play’ writer Jeremy O. Harris freed from custody following drug possession allegations in Japan

Tony-nominated playwright Jeremy O. Harris, who wrote Slave Play, has been released from custody in Japan after spending three weeks under detention on suspicion of having tried to bring MDMA into the country.

He was detained on November 16 after customs officials at Naha Airport in Okinawa allegedly discovered 780 milligrams of ecstasy in his carry-on bag. His December 8 release, which happened without formal charges, is in accordance with a statement from his representatives sent to multiple outlets.

Japanese authorities in Okinawa confirmed Harris’s release, but said they wouldn’t disclose whether prosecutors pursued charges. Previous reports had stated that customs authorities filed a criminal complaint with local prosecutors.

Emily in Paris star and playwright Jeremy O. Harris released from custody in Japan after drug smuggling arrest https://t.co/dv3NXGhXt8

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) December 9, 2025

But Harris’s publicist has argued that the playwright intends to stay in Japan to work on a future project, and that no charges were brought against him.

Harris was said to have flown from the UK to Okinawa for tourism via Taiwan, landing at Naha Airport. With Japan’s tough drug laws, possession of even small amounts of illegal substances can mean many years in prison.

Had he been convicted, Harris would have faced a maximum of seven years in jail, a possibility that made substantial waves in the international arts world.

A look into Jeremy O. Harris' recent rise in fame

The episode amounts to a rare hiatus in what has otherwise been an active time for Harris’s career. Best known for his provocative play Slave Play, the (2019) Broadway phenomenon which received a record-breaking 10 Tony Award nominations, Harris has gone on to make his mark across stage, film and television.

He is the writer behind films like Zola (2020), The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick and Erupcja. He was also a producer on the second season of HBO’s Euphoria and guest starred as Grégory Elliot Duprée on Emily in Paris.

Harris remains heavily involved in the theater. At the Williamstown Theatre Festival, he premiered a new play, “Spirit of the People,” this year, a production that garnered some extra notice for starring Amber Heard in her stage debut.

He is also working on Prince F-----, an Off Broadway venture that envisions a future in which the heir to the British throne has grown up and become a gay man.

Japan’s strict drug enforcement regime has previously resulted in the high-profile arrest of Western entertainers such as Paul McCartney in 1980 and DJ David Morales in 2018. Harris’s arrest was also highly publicized, as he is popular in both the Broadway and film community.