Why did Matthew McConaughey strip naked and play the bongo drums? What happened after this incident?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Matthew McConaughey, the “naked bongos” incident was just another part of the journey. It helped create an easygoing, hard-partying image of him in the media, and for McConaughey, let him see the greenlights as he moved into the world of rom-coms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read more about Matthew McConaughey, the bongo drum, and how the incident lead to more greenlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Matthew ended his RV-days by renting a two-bedroom house in Tarrytown, a sleepy neighborhood in Austin. It was there that one of the most famous (or notorious) incidents in his life-after-fame took place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One night after partying for 32 hours straight in sheer exuberance over a major win by his beloved football team, the Texas Longhorns, he decided to strip naked, smoke some weed, and play the bongo\u2014an instrument that he cherishes, along with the conga and djembe, as one of the \u201cpurest\u201d musical instruments. While he was thus engaged, two Austin police officers barged into his house and wrestled him to the ground. After some preliminary banter, during which he screamed at them for violating his rights, they arrested him for marijuana possession, disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest. When one of them tried to cover him with a blanket, Matthew insisted he would be taken outside naked as proof of his innocence, since a naked man in his own home had clearly been minding his own business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He spent the night in jail and got out the next morning when the judge proved sympathetic toward him. She said she found it inconceivable that what should have been a police call for disturbing the peace had resulted in Matthew facing two misdemeanor felony charges after two officers forced their way into his home without warning. She dismissed all charges when Matthew agreed to plead guilty to violating a sound ordinance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He had to fight off an incipient feeling of gloom for the next several hours, because his outlaw logic told him that getting caught was the worst possible outcome. He hadn\u2019t been raised to go to jail. For consolation, he called his mother, who helped his mood with her outrage at what had been done to him. He received her consolation as a greenlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n