‘Joker’ star Joaquin Phoenix arrested in climate change protest

Earlier this month, Phoenix had talked about climate change at the Golden Globes ceremony, asking Hollywood to walk the talk on the issue.

January 11, 2020 01:39 pm | Updated 02:34 pm IST

Actor Joaquin Phoenix takes part in a "Fire Drill Fridays" protest calling attention to climate change at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 10, 2020

Actor Joaquin Phoenix takes part in a "Fire Drill Fridays" protest calling attention to climate change at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 10, 2020

Fresh off his win at the Golden Globes, actor Joaquin Phoenix participated in a climate change protest and was arrested by the police.

The Joker star took part in the weekly protests against climate change, started by Hollywood veteran Jane Fonda.

According to Variety , the 45-year-old actor also addressed the crowd of close to 300 people.

In his short speech, he took aim at the meat and dairy industry for being the third leading cause of the climate crisis.

“Sometimes we wonder what can we do in this fight against climate change, and there is something that you can do today and tomorrow, by making a choice about what you consume,” Phoenix said.

“There are things I can’t avoid. I flew a plane here today, or last night rather, but one thing I can do is change my eating habits,” he added.

Besides Phoenix, veteran Hollywood star Martin Sheen also turned up for the protest and got arrested by the police. Actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Susan Sarandon were also present.

 

Capitol Police said it arrested 147 people who were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding. All the protestors were later released.

Fonda, who was on stage with Phoenix, called him “one of the greatest living actors today”.

She has been protesting weekly as part of her “Fire Drill Fridays” initiative since announcing she was moving to Washington “to be closer to the epicenter of the fight for our climate.” Her participation has ended in multiple arrests.

Earlier this month, Phoenix had talked about climate change at the Golden Globes ceremony, asking Hollywood to walk the talk on the issue.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.