AFP reports:
Indonesia’s forestry minister has accused Hollywood legend Harrison Ford of subjecting him to a rude interview on climate change that left him “shocked”, an official said Tuesday.
The “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” actor, who is making part of an environmental documentary in Indonesia, attacked the minister with questions during the encounter on Monday, said presidential advisor Andi Arief.
The advisor accused Ford and his crew of “harassing state institutions” and said the 71-year-old could even be deported — although he was due to leave Indonesia later Tuesday anyway.
Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan told reporters that he had been angered by Ford’s approach during the interview in the capital Jakarta.
“His emotions were running very high,” the minister was quoted as saying by the state-run Antara news agency.
“I understand the American man just came here to see Tesso Nilo (a national park on Sumatra island) and wanted violators to be caught the same day.”
The minister added he was not given the chance to explain the challenges of catching people who break the law in Indonesia’s sprawling rainforests, where illegal logging is rampant.
“I was only given the opportunity to say one or two sentences during the interview,” he said.
Arief said the minister thought there would have been some time to discuss the interview before it began.
But in the event he was “shocked that as soon as his (Ford’s) crew came in, they started filming and interviewing him… and attacking him with questions”.
“There’s no privilege for him although he is a great a actor,” he said. “His crew and those who were helping him in Indonesia must be questioned to find out their motives for harassing a state institution.”
“If necessary, we will deport him,” he added.
I’m no supporter of Mr. Harrison or his agendas, however I find the whole meme of “attacking” someone with questions to be a bit specious. I’ll accept that bombarding someone with a lot of questions and not allowing them sufficient time to answer is rude, but it’s not an attack. This minister seems to think as highly of himself as Mr. Harrison does. They are both petty little men pretending to fill big shoes.
For some unknown reason, many ‘actors’ seem to think that they have the intelligence to speak for all of us. Here in NZ we have several who have made it in Hollywood and now think they have the right to represent us with their false claims of ‘saving the planet’ The fact is that they would soon change their attitude if the fame and wealth were suddenly stripped from them – It is quite amazing how those with fame and fortune suddenly become understudy’s for God.
Damn and I liked the guy because he seemed pretty normal… well Im sure he will be giving up all his gas guzzling aircraft.. Just another rich hypocrite …
So they didn’t end up watching Indiana Jones together, then?
I’ve enjoyed Mr. Ford as an actor. He’s also been a useful volunteer pilot in and around Yellowstone Park, airlifting people who were stranded but didn’t need medical support.
Mr. Ford has drunk deeply of Hollywood’s “progressive” Kool-Aid, though.
The whole “attack interview” bit seems to indicate that Ford thought he was supposed to act like a regular lamestream media journalist when the only thing that got him access was the fact that he’s an actor without such a reputation or expectation.
Just goes to show that a guy who’s made his reputation reciting stuff other people had written for him and doing it under the close supervision of professional directors isn’t to be trusted out in the real world without his keepers.
And may be a stunt double?