Prison dramady Orange Is The New Black follows a group of women who fell on the wrong side of the law, but unfortunately fiction became something of a reality for Taryn Manning this week when she was arrested in real life after making threats to her alleged stalker.
The actor and musician, who plays Pennsatucky in the hit show, was reportedly reprimanded on Tuesday for violating a mutual restraining order and threatening former friend Jeanine Heller, who is accused of stalking her for months - this according to Gossip Cop.
It's important to note, however, that there are no charges being pursued against her - and she's since taken to Twitter to insist that she's the victim of “further harassment”. “It is troubling that the system can be used to abuse the actual victim,” she added.
(Photo: WENN)
Alleged court documents first reported by TMZ show that Manning had sent Heller messages on social media including “I will kill you, b***h” and “Go f**k yourself and die”. When she then didn't show up to court, the judge had her arrested for contempt - but no further action was taken.
Her lawyer has added: “Ms Manning is a law abiding person who has respect for the law and the privilege of her profession. The fact that there are no criminal charges against Ms Manning with regard to the purported allegations against her is a clear demonstration of her innocence. Ms. Manning will as always maintain the high road. She wishes no contact from Ms Heller and has had to spend great sums to hire security for her protection.”
(Photo: Netflix)
Just last month, Heller was also busted for violating the restraining order; pleading guilty to criminal contempt in October after harassing the performer online. The trouble dates back to when Manning claimed Heller had been pestering her by phone, email and text hundreds and hundreds of times in a short time period.
Netflix sensation OITNB, which sees Manning giving a widely-acclaimed performance as the enemy of Taylor Schilling's Piper Chapman, launched its second season earlier this year and will return for a third run of episodes next summer. Just this week, another star from the show spoke out on legal matters: Diane Guerrero, who portrays Maritza, has revealed that at the age of 14 she was left alone when her parents were deported back to Colombia.
