Bradley Cooper Recalls Being Held at Knifepoint in NYC

Two years ago, Bradley Cooper was faced with a scary encounter in NYC that he kept quiet about until now.

During an appearance on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast on Monday, Cooper revealed that he was held at knifepoint.

He shared, “I used to walk around New York City all the time with these [headphones] on — this was pre-pandemic — I was on the subway [at] 11:45 to pick up Lea downtown at Russian school and I got held up at knifepoint.”

“It was pretty insane. I realized I had gotten way, way too comfortable in the city. My guard was down… I was all the way at the end of the subway,” Cooper went on. “Innately, I would just go all the way down to the end. I felt somebody coming up. I thought, Oh they want to take a photo or something. As I turned, I’m up against the post like it’s ‘The French Connection’ or some s–t, and I turned. I looked down and I see a knife… I see the person’s eyes, and I’m taken by how young they are.”

Cooper went with his gut instinct, lifted his elbow, and ran for the exit. He said, “I just started booking, just started running. I jumped over the turnstile, hid around the white, tiled entrance to the subway [and] took my phone out. He jumped over, running away. I took a photo of him. Then I chased him up the stairs. He started running up 7th Avenue. I took two more photographs of him.”

Bradley notified two police officers and showed them the photographs. He went on, “I’m, like, talking to them, and the guy kept saying — it was so interesting — he’s like, ‘Are you stabbed?’ I was like, ‘No, no.’ He was like, ‘Check to see if you’re stabbed.’ What happens is people get stabbed and they’re in shock. I looked to see if he was right… And then I got back on the subway and picked up my daughter.”

Last year, Harry Styles faced a similar situation after leaving a friend’s home in London. He told Howard Stern on his SiriusXM show, “The guys cross the road and, I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s weird. I cross the street again and they cross the street again, and I’m like, ‘Oh, for f---’s sake, I think I’m about to get robbed.’”

The men eventually confronted Styles, who gave them cash before being held at knifepoint. When they demanded he unlock his phone, he made a run for it. He commented, “I ran into the road and I tried to stop a car. Obviously, if a madman runs into the road and tries to get in your car, you’re not gonna let them in, so they don’t let me in.”