By Mark Kennedy, Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Lance Reddick, a character actor who specialized in intense, icy and possibly sinister authority figures on TV and film, including "The Wire," "Fringe" and the "John Wick" franchise, has died. He was 60.
Reddick died "suddenly" Friday morning, his publicist Mia Hansen said in a statement, attributing his death to natural causes. His death was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.com.
Reddick was often put in a suit or a crisp uniform during his career, playing tall taciturn and elegant men of distinction. He was best known for his role as straight-laced Lt. Cedric Daniels on the hit HBO series "The Wire," where his character was agonizingly trapped in the messy politics of the Baltimore police department.
"I'm an artist at heart. I feel that I'm very good at what I do. When I went to drama school, I knew I was at least as talented as other students, but because I was a Black man and I wasn't pretty, I knew I would have to work my butt off to be the best that I would be, and to be noticed," he told the Los Angeles Times in 2009.
Reddick also starred on the Fox series "Fringe" as a special agent Phillip Broyles, the smartly dressed Matthew Abaddon on "Lost" and played the multi-skilled Continental Hotel concierge Charon in the "John Wick" movies, including the fourth in the series opening this month
He earned a SAG Award nomination in 2021 as part of the ensemble for Regina King's film "One Night in Miami." Reddick played recurring roles on "Intelligence" and "American Horror Story" and was on the show "Bosch" for its seven-year run.
His upcoming projects include 20th Century's remake of "White Men Can't Jump" and "Shirley," Netflix's biopic of former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. He was also slated to appear in the "John Wick" spinoff "Ballerina," as well as "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial."
The Baltimore-born-and-raised Reddick was a Yale University drama school graduate who enjoyed some success after school by landing guest or recurring roles "CSI: Miami" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." He also appeared in several movies, including "I Dreamed of Africa," "The Siege" and "Great Expectations."
It was on season four of "Oz," playing a doomed undercover officer sent to prison who becomes an addict, that Reddick had a career breakthrough.
"I was never interested in television. I always saw it as a means to an end. Like so many actors, I was only interested in doing theater and film. But 'Oz' changed television. It was the beginning of HBO's reign on quality, edgy, artistic stuff. Stuff that harkens back to great cinema of the '60s and '70s," he told The Associated Press in 2011.
"When the opportunity for 'Oz' came up, I jumped. And when I read the pilot for 'The Wire,' as a guy that never wanted to be on television, I realized I had to be on this show."
Reddick attended the prestigious Eastman School of Music, where he studied classical composition, and he played piano. His first album, the jazzy "Contemplations and Remembrances," came out in 2011.
Reddick had a recurring role as Jeffrey Tetazoo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, on CBS' "Intelligence." On "American Horror Story: Coven," Reddick portrayed Papa Legba, the go-between between humanity and the spirit world.
Reddick is survived by his wife, Stephanie Reddick, and children, Yvonne Nicole Reddick and Christopher Reddick.
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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