What Did Ezra Miller Do? Arrests, Allegations, and Plea Deal

Between April 2020 and August 2022, actor Ezra Miller was arrested twice in Hawaii, charged with felony burglary in Vermont, named in protective orders in Massachusetts and on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, filmed appearing to choke a woman in Iceland, and accused of grooming a minor and endangering small children at their Vermont farm. What Ezra Miller did, in the stretch that derailed their career, breaks down into a short run of criminal incidents, a longer run of civil allegations (several later withdrawn), and one actual conviction: a misdemeanor trespass plea in Vermont.

The Iceland Choking Video

In April 2020, footage from outside Prikið Kaffihús, a bar in Reykjavík, spread online showing Miller appearing to choke a woman. According to interviews with the woman and a bartender, the woman had jokingly told Miller she could take them in a fight. Miller asked if she wanted to, met her in the smoking area, put her in a chokehold, and pushed her to the ground. A bartender who stepped in said Miller grabbed him by the throat and spat in his face. The woman reported the incident but did not press charges, and no legal action followed.¹

The Hawaii Arrests

On March 27, 2022, South Hilo police responded to a report of a disorderly patron at a karaoke bar called Margarita Village. Officers reported that Miller had become agitated by karaoke singers, yelled obscenities, grabbed a microphone from a 23-year-old woman, and lunged at a 32-year-old man who was playing darts.² One report said Miller had been set off by a rendition of “Shallow.”³ Miller was charged with disorderly conduct and harassment and posted $500 bail. They later pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and paid a $500 fine; the harassment charge was dismissed.⁴

Two days later, a Hilo couple filed for a temporary restraining order, alleging Miller had burst into their bedroom, threatened to “bury” them, and taken a passport and wallet.⁵ The couple voluntarily dropped the order a few weeks later.⁴

Then, on April 19, 2022, police said Miller became irate after being asked to leave a gathering at a private home in Leilani Estates in Pāhoa and threw a chair that hit a 26-year-old woman in the forehead, cutting her.⁶ Miller was arrested at a traffic stop shortly after 1 a.m. and charged with second-degree assault. How that charge was ultimately resolved is not clear from public records.⁷

Grooming Allegations and Protective Orders

In June 2022, attorney Chase Iron Eyes and pediatrician Sara Jumping Eagle, both members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, petitioned the tribal court for a protective order against Miller. They accused Miller of grooming and psychologically manipulating their child, Tokata Iron Eyes, starting in 2016, when Tokata was 12 and Miller was 23.⁸ The parents alleged Miller supplied alcohol, marijuana, and LSD, displayed “cult-like” behavior, took Tokata’s phone and ID, and persuaded the teenager to drop out of Bard College in late 2021.⁵ Jumping Eagle also alleged Miller assaulted her during a Santa Monica wellness check and filed a report with local police.

A tribal court judge granted an interim order on June 7, 2022, requiring Miller to stay at least 100 yards from the family’s home for 30 days; the court was unable to serve Miller at the time.⁸ Tokata, then 18, publicly rejected the allegations as a “disgusting and irresponsible smear campaign” and said Miller had provided “loving support and invaluable protection.”⁹ In August 2024, Chase Iron Eyes withdrew the complaint, saying the grooming accusation had been based on “bad information” from a witness who later recanted, and that Miller and Tokata were “best friends” and bandmates in a group called Hundred in the Hand.¹⁰

A separate protective order came out of Massachusetts. In June 2022, Shannon Guin obtained a temporary harassment prevention order on behalf of her 12-year-old nonbinary child, alleging Miller had “menaced” her family at a neighbor’s home in Greenfield and acted inappropriately toward the child, allegedly while possessing a weapon. The Greenfield District Court issued the order on June 17, 2022, finding a “substantial likelihood of immediate danger of harassment.”¹¹ Miller’s attorney, Marissa Elkins, called the weapon claims “fabrications” and said Miller was never alone with the child. The order was lifted on June 30, 2023, after Guin failed to appear at a hearing, and no criminal charges were filed.¹²

The Vermont Farm and Child Welfare Concerns

In June 2022, reports described a 25-year-old mother and her three children, all under age five, living at Miller’s 96-acre farm in Stamford, Vermont, since mid-April. Sources alleged unattended firearms around the house, including a loose bullet a one-year-old reportedly put in her mouth, and video from April reportedly showed at least eight weapons in the living room near children’s toys.¹³ The mother said Miller had provided a “healing haven” that helped her escape an abusive partner, and that firearms were stored in a room the children never entered.¹⁴

The children’s father contacted Vermont’s Department for Children and Families. A social worker visited on May 16, 2022, and texted the father that the kids “looked good” but there was “more work to do.”¹³ Vermont State Police arrived at the farm on August 10, 2022, with an emergency care order to remove the children, but left without doing so after Miller said the family had not been at the property for two months.⁵

The Vermont Burglary Case and Plea Deal

In August 2022, Vermont State Police charged Miller with felony burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and petit larceny for allegedly taking several bottles of liquor from a neighbor’s home in Stamford on May 1, 2022.¹⁵ The burglary count carried a maximum of 25 years. Miller initially pleaded not guilty in Bennington County Superior Court that October.⁴

On January 13, 2023, Miller pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of unlawful trespass. Prosecutors dropped the felony burglary and petit larceny counts. The sentence was 89 to 90 days in jail, all suspended, one year of probation, a $500 fine, and continued mental health treatment.¹⁶ Miller served no jail time.¹⁷ This remains the only conviction from the 2022 cases.

The Mental Health Statement

On August 15, 2022, Miller issued a public statement acknowledging “complex mental health issues” and said they had begun treatment. “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 said, apologizing “to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behavior.”¹⁸

Fallout for The Flash and Miller’s Career

Warner Bros. had invested $195 million in The Flash, with Miller in the title role.¹⁹²⁰²¹²²

In January 2023, DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran said they had not “shut the door” on Miller returning but called the situation still to be determined.²³ As of 2026, no official recasting has been announced.

Where Things Stand Now

After the Vermont plea, Miller largely dropped out of public view, later describing three years spent “in the woods” working on writing and music.²⁴ In May 2025, Miller made their first major public appearance since the controversies at the Cannes Film Festival, at director Lynne Ramsay’s invitation, to support the premiere of her film Die, My Love.⁷ In a June 2025 interview, Miller said they held “a lot of remorse and lamentation” for their actions during that period but were “grateful for the lessons that came with that abyss.” Miller is co-writing a vampire film with Ramsay and is set to star in it, with no title, filming dates, or studio announced.²⁵

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Variety. Ezra Miller Iceland Choking Germany Harassment
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Variety. Ezra Miller Arrested Hawaii
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Hawaii Public Radio. Actor Ezra Miller Arrested for Assault Again on Hawaii Island
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People. Ezra Miller Controversy Timeline
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Rolling Stone. Ezra Miller The Flash Timeline Arrests Controversies Abuse
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Hawai’i Police Department. Ezra Miller Arrested for Assault in Pahoa
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People. Where Is Ezra Miller Now
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Los Angeles Times. Ezra Miller Grooming Abuse Allegations Tokata Iron Eyes
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Business Insider. Ezra Miller Flash Running a Cult Grooming Minors Carrying Guns
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New York Post. Man Who Accused Ezra Miller of Grooming Daughter Drops Complaint
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NBC News. Actor Ezra Miller Hit With Temporary Protection Order in Massachusetts
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Deadline. Ezra Miller Harassment Order Lifted Massachusetts
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Rolling Stone. Ezra Miller Young Children Vermont Farm
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New York Post. Ezra Miller Housing 3 Kids, Their Mom at Gun-Filled Vermont Farm
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NBC News. Ezra Miller Agrees to Plea, Guilty in Vermont Burglary Case
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VTDigger. Judge Tells Actor Ezra Miller After Accepting Plea Deal in Break-In Case
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WCAX. Ezra Miller Takes Plea Deal in Vermont Burglary Case
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Variety. Ezra Miller Apologizes, The Flash, Mental Health Issues
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Los Angeles Times. The Flash Ezra Miller DC Studios Controversy
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The Hollywood Reporter. The Flash Warner Bros Ezra Miller
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Los Angeles Times. Flash Ezra Miller Box Office Warner Bros DC
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The Guardian. The Flash Box Office Flop
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Variety. Ezra Miller DC Future the Flash Recover James Gunn
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Rolling Stone. Ezra Miller Wrongdoings Remorse Cannes Interview
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IndieWire. Lynne Ramsay Ezra Miller Vampire Movie