HBO

HBO

For fans of The Wire, something amazing happened earlier this month. Dominic West, who starred as the grizzled, besotted Baltimore Police Det. Jimmy McNulty, joined Twitter. West, who currently stars in the BBC drama The Hour, signed up quietly earlier this month.

Exciting, right? West’s newfound status as a Twitter user would seem like a chance to engage with one of the leading actors in one of the most heralded pieces of filmed entertainment.

But it’s not. While West is engaging with fans, its only with those who admire his other work, like his stage appearances, film roles and his current BBC show. Frustratingly, West wants no part of your tweets about The Wire:


Damn it, McNulty! That’s cold. In another tweet, West links to an interview he gave to the iPad newspaper The Daily in which he praises the q-and-a for not making any reference to his work in the Charm City saga.

West has a bit of a defense, writing back to one fan that “The Wire for me is such a long time ago. So many things happened since then. I’m grateful for what [The Wire] did for me.” Fair enough, but that threat to block fans who write in about his most famous project is quite gruff, almost embittered. One might even say it’s McNulty-esque.

Still, there are plenty of other options to interact with veterans of The Wire. Among the show’s cast members with Twitter accounts are West’s partner on the Baltimore beat Wendell Pierce (Det. William “Bunk” Moreland), Andre Royo (Bubbles), Tristan Wilds (Michael Lee), Domenick Lombardozzi (Officer Thomas “Herc” Hauk), Jamie Hector (Marlo Stanfield), Anwar “Big G” Glover (Slim Charles) and, of course, Michael K. Williams (Omar Little).

Many of West’s former co-stars acknowledge their time on The Wire in their profiles, with Hector even borrowing one of his character’s most memorable lines: “My name is my name!” Obviously, they, like West, all have careers that no longer include The Wire, but still, no one is as coldhearted as you, McNulty. In fact, we only have one thing to say to your threat:

UPDATE, July 17: It appears West quit Twitter sometime yesterday, the apparent reaction to a flurry of tweets from people angry that he refused to discuss The Wire.

“I find it perturbing to be called asshole or douche by people I do not know. Leaving twitter behind,” West wrote in a message that was archived by a follower’s retweet.

And just like that, he was gone. DCist was not the only outlet to mention West’s threat to block anyone who got at him with tweets about his time in Baltimore, but we can’t help feel a little responsible for his newfound exile. What’s the social-media equivalent of Baltimore harbor patrol? Friendster?

Aw, hell, who are we kidding? It took us one day to accomplish what Bill Rawls needed five seasons to get done. See ya around, McNulty.

Filed Under: baltimore, david simon, dominic west, hbo, jimmy mcnulty, the wire, twitter,