Actor William Levy speaks out after arrest on disorderly intoxication charges

Cuban-American telenovela star William Levy has spoken out after he was arrested on Monday in Southern Florida on charges of disorderly public intoxication and trespassing.

The 44-year-old actor — known for playing the romantic lead in a variety of Spanish-language romance dramas and for reaching the final of Dancing with the Stars in 2012 — was picked up by authorities in the city of Weston. According to arrest records seen by local news outlets, he was “highly intoxicated and causing a disturbance inside the restaurant” and was told by the manager not to return.

He was later booked into Broward County’s Main Jail.

On Tuesday afternoon, Levy appeared in court, where a judge set his bond at $500. That evening, he was released from jail, where he tried to make a fast exit to avoid a swarm of reporters.

However, he was quickly stopped and bombarded by news crews, who asked him about the events that led to his arrest.

Levy explained that he had been trying to break up an argument when “all of a sudden, he started arguing with another guy to deescalate the situation, and I’m the one who ended up in handcuffs.”

The Independent has contacted Levy’s representatives and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for comment.

Born in Cuba, Levy eventually moved to Miami in his teen years before going on to land his first on-screen role in the 2005 telenovela Olvidarte jamás as Germán Torres. The following year, he was invited to star in two episodes of Carla Estrada’s 笔补蝉颈ó苍, which ended up being his breakthrough in Mexican telenovelas.

Some of his other notable telenovela roles include Larry Irázabal in Acorralada, Maximiliano Sandoval in Triunfo del amor, Juan Miguel in Cuidado con el ángel, Alejandro Lombardo in Sortilegio, and Damián Fabré in La Tempestad.

Beyond his telenovela career, Levy has also starred in a number of movies, such as 2016’s action-horror Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, 2017’s action sci-fi The Veil, and 2019’s thriller romance Killing Sarai.

He even appeared in Jennifer Lopez’s 2011 “I’m Into You” music video as her love interest, and made a cameo as himself in 2017’s movie Girls Trip, starring Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish. In 2012, he competed on season 14 of Dancing with the Stars, where he and his partner, Cheryl Burke, placed in third.

More recently, Levy co-led the one-season drama Vuelve an mí opposite Mexican actor Samadhi Zendejas.

He remains active on Instagram, often sharing photos and videos of his two children, 19-year-old son Christopher Alexander and 15-year-old daughter Kailey Alexandra, whom he shares with his ex-partner, actor and model Elizabeth Gutiérrez.

The former couple had been in a long-term on-and-off relationship since 2003 — when they first met on the set of the reality show Protagonistas de Novela. After 20 years together, they confirmed their split in 2024.

In his latest post, Levy celebrated his son’s achievement of being named Southern Florida’s Sports Illustrated Player of the Week.

“Here we go !!!!! Your ‘SPORTS ILLUSTRATED PLAYER OF THE WEEK IN SOUTH FLORIDA’!!! One more time baby !!!! I’ve seen your struggle and your sacrifice day by day. Going ‘AGAINST ALL ODDS’ You are a true hero champ. You are my inspiration every day! I’m so proud of you,” Levy captioned the March 11 post, alongside a photo of his son in his college baseball uniform.