The Utter And Complete Downfall Of Ezra Miller
Ezra Miller has become a figure of controversy over the last few years, but they started out as a promising young actor. Miller was only 16 when they landed their first feature film, "Afterschool," and dropped out of high school to become a Hollywood actor, according to the Daily Beast. The dark and twisted character they played in "We Need To Talk About Kevin" made them into a household name in 2011, and they followed that up with the coming-of-age drama "Perks of Being A Wallflower." More recently, they were cast as The Flash in the DC Cinematic Universe — but this coveted role was put in jeopardy by a string of arrests and controversies.
So what happened to Miller? In one profile, inside sources claimed that the actor was reportedly deeply hurt by their parents' divorce in 2019, which kicked off a period of deliberately acting out. "Ezra didn't start freaking out and losing control of themselves in public until after this happened," a friend told Vanity Fair. Their spokesperson denied that this change in Miller's family life had been the primary cause, however, stating: "The matters leading up to their recent mental health concerns were a combination of complex, stress-related issues."
Keep reading to find out about the actor's very public downward spiral.
They were accused of starting a cult in Iceland
After Ezra Miller started making headlines with their behavior in 2022, stories began emerging of Miller's time in Reykjavik in 2020, where they rented out an Airbnb and formed a makeshift commune. As sources told Insider, the actor saw partying as their spiritual practice at the time, so they mostly spent their days attending different raves.
Insider reported that the actor gained a reputation for walking everywhere barefoot, rarely bathing, and holding group meditation sessions for their guests, who weren't allowed to disagree with their host's speeches about spiritual practices or use their phones. "I felt like everyone was hypnotized," one woman later reflected. Another woman, who claimed that she and Miller had sex while she was in Reykjavik as an 18-year-old, emphasized the power that the actor held over everyone else. "Their reality painted everybody else's reality," she explained. "There was no room for anybody else's opinion or feelings."
Another woman described spending six days with Miller in a hotel room and experiencing their mood swings during that time in Iceland. "Ezra was super manipulative. They kind of had us all under their finger," she recalled, adding that Miller had tried to talk her into leaving her loved ones behind. "They were able to twist and pull everything that I thought I knew about the world."
They were filmed choking a fan
One of Ezra Miller's first scandals happened when they were staying in Iceland during 2020. The actor was in a Reykjavik bar called Prikið Kaffihús on April 1 and got caught on video choking a female fan. "Oh, you wanna fight? That's what you wanna do?" they asked the woman rhetorically, before grabbing her by the throat and assaulting her. A source at the bar told Variety that this was not a staged or lighthearted interaction, despite initial speculation that it was some kind of April Fool's joke. After the incident, Miller was actually removed from the bar by staff for their disruptive behavior.
Miller's fans were baffled by this footage, which seemed to show a violent side to the actor. Their rep later stated that this was a reaction to "a group of teens" repeatedly taunting them about their mixed martial arts skills, as Vanity Fair reported, and insisted that it wasn't really a choking since Miller went for her collarbone rather than her throat. A source from Miller's inside circle recalled that the actor rang Warner Bros. in a panic after the video was leaked. "It was [Warner Bros.] listening and Miller spewing his poor-me speech: 'I'm the one who was hated on,'" she explained. "So you have this almost 30-year-old who is a partier telling Warner Bros. that he was the victim."
Miller threatened the Ku Klux Klan
In January 2022, Ezra Miller posted a cryptic video addressing a supposed Ku Klux Klan chapter in North Carolina, threatening to kill them with their own guns. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the clip showed Miller wearing a ring inspired by their DC Comics character, The Flash. "Look, if y'all want to die, I suggest just killing yourselves with your own guns. OK?" they asked the camera, adding that if the hate group would rather have Miller shoot them, they should "keep doing exactly what you're doing right now — and you know what I am talking about." Fans were confused by this vague accusation as well as the caption, in which the actor promised that the video was not a joke but in fact a deadly serious threat.
"Please disseminate (gross!) this video to all those whom it may concern," Miller wrote, asking their followers to trust them. "Let's save some live [sic] now ok babies? Love you like woah." In response to these claims, Vice asked The Southern Poverty Law Center about Klan activity in Beulaville, the town in which Miller was driving around, and they confirmed that there had been no significant activity in that specific town for quite a few years. Behind the scenes, family and friends were so worried about this public threat that they locked Miller's firearms away in a safe, according to Vanity Fair, leaving the actor despondent and determined to stock up on more weapons.
They were arrested in a Hawaii karaoke bar
A string of arrests in Hawaii gave Ezra Miller a reputation as a public menace in 2022. The actor was first accused of "disorderly conduct" in a karaoke bar after yelling obscenities at other patrons, per TMZ, grabbing the microphone away from one woman who had been singing, and physically attacking a man playing darts. Footage from a police bodycam seemed to show the actor's arrest on March 29, per TMZ [0:35], as Miller tries to convince the cops that they were the one who really got assaulted. "Let me show you the video. I got assaulted in this bar, twice in a row," the actor insisted. "I film myself when I get assaulted for NFT crypto art."
Miller went on to insist that the man they attacked had called himself a Nazi before the clash. They also objected to being searched by a male police officer due to their gender identity. Despite their protests, the actor was still put in handcuffs and led away. In April, a judge gave Miller a $500 fine after the actor entered a plea of no contest during their Zoom trial, as People reported. They were also told to keep their distance from the karaoke bar in question.
The actor was accused of grooming
In 2022, Ezra Miller was accused of fostering an inappropriate relationship with a nonbinary 12-year-old and served with a temporary protection order. The child's mother told Insider that they met Miller in February 2022 when the actor was traveling through Massachusetts. "I want to invest in your future," Miller reportedly told the child, who was 11 years old at the time, asking for their social media details and suggesting that they start a fashion line together. Although the child later admitted that they hadn't been comfortable with the attention, Miller kept talking to them and verbally abusing their mother. The actor insisted that they had discovered "a mystical being" whose mother didn't understand their potential and who "would be lucky to have Ezra to guide and protect them."
A couple of months later, the now-12-year-old encountered Miller again and was invited to their farm. "It sounded perfect," they admitted, adding that they just "didn't feel safe." When the actor showed up at their home again, offering to buy the child horses, their mother decided to file for a protective order. She told Insider that her decision was influenced by reading about Miller's other chaotic behavior in the news, adding that she felt it was important to tell the media. "It's about protecting children and bringing light to what's really happening," she stated.
According to NBC News, Greenfield District Court in Massachusetts granted her the temporary court order without any advance notice, due to "a substantial likelihood of immediate danger of harassment."
Miller faced more accusations
Ezra Miller also got into legal trouble over another relationship in 2022: their connection to Tokata Iron Eyes, an 18-year-old nonbinary activist who reportedly met Miller at age 12. According to TMZ, their parents asked Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court to separate their child from Miller, whom they accused of giving Tokata LSD and leaving them with bruises. The Iron Eyes family also alleged that Miller had first flown their child out to visit the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" set in 2017, when the actor was 25 and Tokata was 14. The teenager appeared to disagree with their description of Miller's "cult-like and psychologically manipulative, controlling behavior," as People reported. A since-deleted Instagram post from Tokata declared that the Iron Eyes family was transphobic and that legal intervention was unnecessary, although their parents replied by questioning whether the teen had really written the response.
Although the court ultimately sided with the activist's parents and granted the protection order, Tokata later told Insider that the legal case had been "a disgusting and irresponsible smear campaign" against Miller, and that the actor "in multiple cases has done the right thing and stood in protection of others." The activist also defended some of Miller's other eccentric choices, like wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a gun at all times, by insisting that the vest was "a fashionable safety measure in response to actual attacks and received death threats."
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
Miller allegedly had a Messiah complex
Ezra Miller has identified as spiritual for a long time. In a 2020 interview with GQ, the actor declared that creative people were naturally "practitioners of the various works of magic and medicine, storytelling and ritual." They also told the Evening Standard in 2018 that they felt represented by every religious denomination across the globe and none of them at the same time. Miller also praised Jesus Christ for being a revolutionary and put their own spin on the story of the New Testament, adding that he "seemed like a queer, radical, person of color."
But their belief system came under scrutiny when they started to be publicly accused of harming the young people around them, and using a Messiah complex to justify their behavior. Insider sources told Vanity Fair that Miller had started referring to themselves as Jesus and believing that Freemasons were sending demons to kill them, influenced by their personal spiritual advisor.
"They say they are some kind of messiah, and they're going to lead an Indigenous revolution," one source insisted (via Vanity Fair), explaining that Miller was using Native American spirituality to build this narrative and justify their relationship with Tokata Iron Eyes, despite not actually having any Indigenous background. "Ezra is Jesus, and Tokata's an apocalyptic Native American spider goddess, and their union is supposed to bring about the apocalypse," an anonymous insider explained, adding that in Miller's mind, that was supposedly why everybody opposed their union.
They started housing young kids at their Vermont farm
After meeting a woman and her three young children in Hawaii, Ezra Miller moved them all to a Vermont farm they had bought and reportedly filled with guns and weed. Sources close to Miller voiced their concerns to Rolling Stone in June 2022, claiming that a one-year-old allegedly put a loose bullet in her mouth on one occasion because ammunition was so easily accessible. Rolling Stone also reported that Miller and their friends had deliberately blown marijuana smoke into the baby's face. But the mother insisted that the farm "has been a healing haven for us," claiming that Miller rescued them from her "violent and abusive ex" in April so that she could "have a safe environment for my three very young children."
In August, Vermont State Police made several unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the children with an emergency care order, but Miller claimed not to know the family's whereabouts, despite social media posts showing them at the farm. The police visits also led to Miller facing consequences for another incident from May: They received a citation over breaking into somebody's house to steal alcohol and later pled guilty to trespassing during the trial, avoiding the heavier charge of felony burglary. In January 2023, the plea deal was resolved when Miller agreed to one year of probation, as well as a fine of $500, per The Hollywood Reporter. The actor also promised to stay away from alcohol if it threatened their career or mental health.
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.
They promised to get help for mental health
In August 2022, Ezra Miller apologized for the whole saga and insisted that their behavior had been a result of a mental health spiral. "Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment," Miller explained in a statement to Variety, offering apologies to anyone who had been negatively impacted by their actions over the past year. "I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe, and productive stage in my life."
Despite speculation that Miller had harmed the DC Comics brand, the company stood by the actor and dropped the first official trailer for "The Flash" during the Super Bowl in 2023. Peter Safran and James Gunn, who are currently in charge of DC Studios, defended Miller in an interview with Deadline. "Ezra is completely committed to their recovery," Safran insisted, adding that the actor had their full support on their journey to wellbeing.
The pair didn't confirm whether Miller would be playing the Flash in any sequels or crossover movies, however, explaining that future movies were a conversation for another day. "Right now, they are completely focused on their recovery," Safran continued. "And in our conversations with them over the last couple of months, it feels like they're making enormous progress."
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.