Entertainment
The Wire star Michael K Williams detailed being high on cocaine while meeting Barack Obama in posthumous memoir: ‘I was such a mess’-Rishma Dosani-Entertainment – Metro
The actor started putting pen to paper on Scenes From My Life before his death.
Michael K Williams wrote of his meeting with Barack Obama in his memoir (Pictures: Getty / Rex)
Michael K Williams detailed being high on cocaine when he met former president Barack Obama in his posthumous memoir.
The actor, best known for starring as Omar Little in The Wire, died last September, aged 54.
His cause of death was later confirmed as an accidental overdose.
Before his death, he was putting pen to paper on his life story, Scenes From My Life, which will now be released this month.
Obama had previously voiced that he was a huge fan of Williams’ work in the Wire, and had described Little as his favorite character from the show.
He went so far as to invite the Hollywood legend to a town hall meeting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 2008, before he was elected into office.
Williams died last year at the age of 54 (Picture: Getty)
In the pages, according to the Daily Mail, the Boardwalk Empire actor was initially shocked that the politician knew who he was, but was also ‘ashamed’ of his behavior.
‘I’d just come off a three-day cocaine bender and was whacked out of my mind,’ the publication states he wrote, before describing their backstage meeting.
‘Where’s Omar at? What’s good with you man?.’ Obama reportedly said, to which Williams stuttered: ‘G-G-God bless you, bro.’
‘I couldn’t even put my words together. I was such a mess,’ he wrote. ‘Obama shook my hand and I could see it in his eyes. He was like: I don’t got time for this. He kept it moving.
Obama has spoken highly of the Wire in the past (Picture: Getty)
‘I was not in my right mind. I told people I was nervous but actually I had lockjaw from too much cocaine.’
He admitted that he was ‘checked out’ for their meeting and was ‘embarrassed’ that he was unable to comprehend ‘issues affecting my country’.
Williams – who had a life-long issue with drugs – died before he was able to finish the book, which was completed posthumously by John Sternfeld.
‘When Michael K Williams died on September 6, 2021, he left behind a career as one of the most electrifying actors of his generation,’ the book description reads.
Williams’ posthumous memoir will be released this month (Picture: HBO)
‘From his star turn as Omar Little in The Wire to Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire to Emmy-nominated roles in HBO’s The Night Of and Lovecraft Country, Williams inhabited a slew of indelible roles that he portrayed with a rawness and vulnerability that leapt off the screen.
‘Beyond the nominations and acclaim, Williams played characters who connected, whose humanity couldn’t be denied, whose stories were too often left out of the main narrative.
‘At the time of his death, Williams had nearly finished a memoir that tells the story of his past while looking to the future, a book that merges his life and his life’s work. Mike, as his friends knew him, was so much more than an actor.
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‘In Scenes from My Life, he traces his life in whole, from his childhood in East Flatbush and his early years as a dancer to his battles with addiction and the bar fight that left his face with his distinguishing scar.
‘He was a committed Brooklyn resident and activist who dedicated his life to working with social justice organizations and his community, especially in helping at-risk youth find their voice and carve out their future.
‘Williams worked to keep the spotlight on those he fought for and with, whom he believed in with his whole heart,’ it concluded.
‘Imbued with poignance and raw honesty, Scenes from My Life is the story of a performer who gave his all to everything he did—in his own voice, in his own words, as only he could.’
Michael K Williams’ Scenes From My Life is out on August 23.
Worried about drugs?
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