My Big Fat Greek Wedding Star Lainie Kazan Didn't Shoplift, Her Lawyer Says
My Big Fat Greek Wedding star Lainie Kazan is not a shoplifter, her lawyer says.
Despite reports that she was caught stealing groceries from a supermarket on Christmas Eve, the actress’s attorney Mark Werksman tells PEOPLE, “Lainie Kazan is not a shoplifter or a thief.”
In addition to allegedly leaving a Gelson’s grocery store without paying for $180 worth of items, TMZ reports that Kazan, 77, had tried to shoplift from the same Los Angeles-area store at least twice in the past.
But Werksman says Kazan has never “left a Gelson’s store without paying for her groceries.”
He adds, “This is a misunderstanding by Gelson’s employees who did not give her the opportunity to pay for her groceries before detaining her. We look forward to resolving this case in court where we are confident that she will be exonerated.”
After allegedly being caught in the act on Christmas Eve, she was reportedly arrested for petty theft, cited and released without bail.
According to TMZ, Kazan left the grocery store with a basket that included Comet and Pledge cleaning supplies, a hot rotisserie chicken, tomatoes, Jell-O and uncured pepperoni. The outlet also reports that the actress had been caught on security cameras attempting to steal in the past.
Kazan played the family matriarch in 2002’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the 2016 sequel. She also starred alongside Adam Sandler in 2008’s Don’t Mess with the Zohan, and played Maxine Rosen on Desperate Housewives.