Rachel Sennott Was Arrested for Bringing CBD to the Cayman Islands

Rachel Sennott wishes she had a better story behind her recent arrest.

“I was arrested for CBD in the Cayman Islands, which is embarrassing,” Sennott, 29, said during a Wednesday, October 9, appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “It’s actually sad. You want to be arrested for something cool. You want to be arrested for like, protesting, shoplifting, something awesome. To be arrested for CBD is like, ‘This is a little pathetic.’”

The actress explained that the arrest was “totally [her] fault” as she “didn’t look into the international travel laws” before visiting the tropical locale. She joked that her NYU sweatshirt made her an easy target when she arrived at the airport, and she was pulled aside to have her bags searched. An airport employee then found her “Mom Grass,” a CBD product that is legal in the United States.

“They arrest me, they take my phone and my passport,” Sennott recalled, noting that the one phone call she was allowed to make had to be to someone within the Cayman Islands. “I unfortunately have yet to make friends in the Cayman Islands.”

Sennott was traveling solo until her friend came to meet up with her, so she ended up “hanging out with the people who arrested” her.

“Honestly, super chill vibes,” she joked, noting that the border patrol officers then looked her up and started watching clips from her 2023 film Bottoms.

“They’re like, ‘This isn’t for us,’” she said. “Obviously, it’s not for you. You’re a border patrol officer, this is for teenage lesbians.”

Sennott’s stint in custody was short-lived as her assistant knew something was wrong when she stopped answering text messages. The assistant called Sennott’s hotel, found out that she’d “probably been detained” and contacted Sennott’s lawyer.

“Shoutout to my 23-year-old assistant, Claire,” Sennott said, pointing to the audience. The Idol alum’s parents were also in attendance, and the late-night talk show marked their first time hearing about Sennott’s arrest.

“You’ve got to be very proud,” host Jimmy Fallon joked as the camera panned to Sennott’s parents.

While Sennott’s CBD-related arrest doesn’t exactly make her a criminal mastermind, she did get a mugshot to legitimize the affair.

“I got a mugshot. I asked for it, they wouldn’t send it,” she said. “Just imagine I look incredible.”

In addition to discussing her life of crime, Sennott talked about Saturday Night, which hits theaters on Friday, October 11. The film documents what happened in the 90 minutes leading up to the 1975 premiere of Saturday Night Live. Sennott portrays former SNL writer Rosie Shuster.

“I got to meet Rosie, and I wasn’t super familiar with her before reading the script,” Sennott said. “She’s so smart, funny and cool in the face of chaos.”