As you may have already guessed, Supernatural‘s Jared Padalecki wasn’t available to attend DC Con this past weekend, leaving his co-star Jensen Ackles to fill the void and address any concerns surrounding Padalecki’s well-being.
To recap: Padalecki was arrested for assault and public intoxication last week in Austin, Texas. Video footage obtained by TMZ revealed the Sam Winchester actor being escorted outside a club called Stereotype following an altercation with its general manager, before he was eventually restrained by police. Padalecki has since addressed the incident with a non-apology apology.
Circling back to DC Con, though, and Ackles spoke about Jared Padalecki’s arrest in front of adoring Supernatural fans – the SPN family, if you will – revealing some of the ways in which cast and crew members have been teasing him since production resumed in Vancouver.
There’s a lot of love. I’m gonna tell Jared to stay home more often. I could get used to this. Can we do solo gold panels next year? I’m kidding. We all miss my big, dumb friend. [He] had a bad weekend last weekend, he’s dealing with what he’s gotta deal with, so just send him some support and love and have a good weekend this week.
Ackles went on to admit that the Supernatural crew is “having fun with it,” even producing a pair of handcuffs to taunt Jared Padalecki following his very public misdemeanor.
When he showed up on set, because he had a couple days off last week — which turned out to be a good thing — but when he showed up on Wednesday, I brought him in in handcuffs. So we’re having fun, we’re having fun with it. The crew really wanted to wear orange jumpsuits. But we couldn’t get them in time. So it wasn’t like we thought it was a bad idea. We certainly were going to roll with it. But he’s doing fine, he sends his love. And you’re stuck with me today.
And that’s that, really. We fully expect Padalecki to post a more elaborate statement in due time, as the actor hasn’t addressed the incident head-on. One way or another, though, it hasn’t impacted the scheduling for Supernatural‘s 15th and final season, which continues this Sunday (November 10th) with “Atomic Monsters.”
