Actor Tim Allen opened up about his 1978 arrest during a recent appearance on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, sharing his perspective on how law enforcement treated him during the ordeal that resulted in prison time.
“I was treated just as badly as people of color,” Allen said, before offering his theory about what happened in his case.
Allen suggested that authorities targeted him specifically because of his background. “I was a light-skinned guy from a middle, upper middle class family,” he explained. “The police were really after… they wanted to make an example of me.”
According to Allen, the legal process felt predetermined. He claimed the outcome had already been decided long before he entered the courtroom.
“I went through a court system that my mother watched, God bless her, and she totally lost faith in the U.S. legal system,” he said.
Allen also argued that he was never allowed to review his presentence report, a document typically prepared to help judges determine sentencing. He claimed the only voices represented in that report were law enforcement officials.
“I didn’t have a pre-sentence report. Most of the situation, as I look at it, was a setup,” Allen said. “I wouldn’t have any idea where to sell this amount. They needed a certain amount to be sold. And the police set this up. The DEA did all the setup.”
Podcast host Howie Mandel then pressed him on whether those claims were proven or simply his interpretation. “Has that been proven? Is that your theory or do you have any proof?” Mandel asked.
Allen acknowledged the lack of concrete evidence.
“They look at it differently,” he said. “But it was predetermined what was going to happen to me way before I was in there.”
When Mandel asked him to clarify what a pre-sentence report is, Allen explained: “You go in there with your attorney and the judge decides whether you go out and bail or not.”
According to sources, Allen ultimately pleaded guilty to d**g trafficking charges. At the time, he faced the possibility of a life sentence under what was then known as the Rockefeller Act. However, after cooperating with authorities and providing names to investigators, his sentence was reduced to three to seven years. He served two years and four months before being paroled in 1981.
Allen was remarkably open about his time behind bars, revealing he initially considered ending his life while in county jail. He credited comedy with saving him during his incarceration, explaining that making fellow inmates laugh changed the dynamic and protected him from potential threats.
The actor recalled advice from an older prisoner who told him to “shut up, grow a beard and stop asking questions.”
The traumatic experience of losing his father to a vehicular incident caused by an intoxicated driver when Allen was 11 years old played a significant role in his troubled youth. He described becoming two different people, presenting one face to adults while internally struggling with anger and loss of faith.
Allen eventually organized comedy shows inside the prison and participated in motivational speaker programs.
Now promoting the second season of his ABC sitcom Shifting Gears, which premieres October 1st, Allen remains active in standup comedy and continues to voice Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story franchise. He confirmed during the podcast that Toy Story 5 is currently three-quarters complete and scheduled for June release.
