An actress who appeared in the Quentin Tarantino film Django Unchained is suing the Los Angeles Police Department after, she claimed, she was handcuffed by ''racist'' police who mistook her for a prostitute because she was kissing her white boyfriend.
Danièle Watts claimed her arms were cut when officers briefly detained her outside a studio in Hollywood earlier this month.
Her boyfriend, celebrity chef Brian James Lucas, who is known as Chef Be*Live, claimed he was told that a neighbour had called the police when he spotted the couple kissing in a car.
Watts posted several photographs of the moment she was detained to Facebook.
She wrote: "Today I was handcuffed and detained by two police officers from the Studio City Police Department after refusing to agree that I had done something wrong by showing affection, fully clothed, in a public place."
Watts did her training at the British American Drama Academy in London. She played Coco in Django Unchained , and has also appeared in Weeds.
Lucas told the TMZ website that the couple had engaged a lawyer to bring a legal case against the police. The force did not comment.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 
