‘The Office’ Star Creed Bratton Once Dropped Acid and His Pants at the Fillmore

Fans of The Office might be surprised to learn Creed Bratton was one of the biggest stars on the set when the show first started. As a former member of the rock group The Grass Roots, Bratton had a wealth of performing experience when he joined the cast of the NBC comedy series. During an interview with his former co-star Brian Baumgartner, Bratton talked about the time he “dropped acid” during The Grass Roots’ performance at The Fillmore.

Creed Bratton was in The Grass Roots before ‘The Office’ 

Before becoming Dunder Mifflin’s quality assurance representative, the actor spent many years touring the country with The Grass Roots. As Bratton told Baumgartner on The Office Deep Dive, he has been playing music since he was a child. One of the most significant experiences in his music career was his time in The Grass Roots.

Bratton was a member of the band from 1966 to 1970 along with Rick Coonce, Warren Entner, and Kenny Fukumoto. One of their most notable songs “Let’s Live for Today” topped the charts when Bratton was a member. 

Bratton eventually left music to pursue acting, but his background followed him when he joined the cast of The Office. The song Creed sings in the finale of the series, “All the Faces,” was written by Bratton, who still performs live music today. 

Rock promoter Bill Graham allegedly ‘hated’ Creed Bratton after he dropped acid during ‘The Grass Roots’ performance 

Bill Graham was a music promoter who got started in hippie-era San Francisco and later opened the Fillmore East in New York City in 1968 (via The New York Times). “You’ve heard the story of me dropping acid at the Fillmore?” Bratton asked his Office co-star during their chat. Baumgartner, unsure if the story was true or not, hesitated. “It’s absolutely true,” Bratton said, elaborating: 

“I will take a lie detector test and ascertain [it’s true]. I had dropped acid and I couldn’t play … [I] dropped my pants on stage, walked off naked, [and] waved to the audience.

We had to come back and make the show up the next week. Bill Graham hated me from that moment on and didn’t really have a sense of humor about that kind of stuff.” 

‘The Office’ star allegedly did cocaine with Jim Morrison, too 

As Baumgartner mentioned, many of Bratton’s stories are hard to believe, including another tale he mentioned during their conversation. As a member of The Grass Roots, Bratton became close with the iconic band The Doors — one of the band’s members was the best man at Bratton’s wedding. 

“That reminds me of snorting cocaine off a hooker’s a** at the Playboy Mansion with Jim Morrison,” Bratton said on the podcast. During a Reddit AMA, Bratton teased more about allegedly doing drugs with the band. “[I] didn’t drop drugs with the band all at once, but we did hang out in the ’60s a lot,” he wrote. “[I] was friends with John and Ray.” 

Not all of Bratton’s stories might be true, but that doesn’t make them any less entertaining. Watch Bratton in episodes of The Office on Peacock.