Broadway theatre installs infrared system to detect smartphones after nude Jesse Williams footage leaked

Nude scenes from ‘Take Me Out’ were shared across social media

Broadway’s Second Stage Theatre has announced that it has installed an infrared camera system, after nude footage of Jesse Williams in the play Take Me Out was leaked on social media.

In his Broadway debut, Williams plays the lead role of Darren Lemming, a mixed-race baseball star who comes out as gay and is confronted off the field by deep-rooted, homophobic and racist prejudices.

Late on Monday (9 May), illicit fan footage from a performance was posted on social media, showing Williams fully nude while facing the New York audience.

While the venue’s phone policy was strict even before the incident – requiring patrons to lock their phones in Yondr pouches, which can only be unlocked with a specific magnet – the theatre told Deadline that it has now installed a security system that faces the audience.

The new technology, installed today (11 May), augments the current camera systems, using infrared cameras to detect suspicious activity.

It will be monitored in real-time by the theatre’s security and violators may be asked to delete any footage or told to leave.

Following the leak, the company running the production issued a statement, reading: “It is deeply unfortunate that one audience member chose to disrespect the production, their fellow audience members, and most importantly, the cast in this matter.”

Theatre Jesse Williams (Broadway)

“Posting it on the internet is a gross and unacceptable violation of trust between the actor and audience forged in the theatre community,” Second Stage Theatre said.

Williams has since responded to the leak, saying: “It’s a body, once you see it, you realise it’s whatever, it’s a boy!”

“I just have to make it not that big of a deal,” he told Watch What Happens Live After Show.