On Tuesday while speaking at an event to a group of his supporters, Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, threw extreme criticism and threats at actor Leonardo DiCaprio due to some comments about youth voting and the state of the Amazon rainforest.
DiCaprio recently put out a series of tweets in which he first stated, “The Tapajós region of Brazil’s Pará state is the target of industrialized illegal mining” before then chasing those comments by urging people to go out to vote, stating, “Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems critical to climate change. What happens there matters to us all and youth voting is key in driving change for a healthy planet.”
.@mongabay: The Tapajós region of Brazil’s Pará state is the target of industrialized illegal mining, which would leave massive destruction and is threatening to erase years of archaeological discoveries.https://t.co/rPnLu0r8fo
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) April 28, 2022
Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems critical to climate change.
What happens there matters to us all and youth voting is key in driving change for a healthy planet. For more on voter registration in Brazil before May 4, visit https://t.co/0mKrfxLdRR #tiraotitulohoje— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) April 28, 2022
Thank you to the heroes of democracy in Brazil who are helping young people register to vote. To learn more & register online by the May 4th deadline, visit https://t.co/Ok03JYLH0U, https://t.co/vnKyBBO6Dq, https://t.co/UfqsCAMZiz & https://t.co/bU46tieJYA https://t.co/Ok03JYLH0U
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) May 2, 2022
These comments from DiCaprio seemingly infuriated Bolsonaro and made him respond on Tuesday, ordering his supporters, “Now, DiCaprio has to know that it was the very president of the World Trade Organization who said that without Brazilian agribusiness, the world would be hungry. So, DiCaprio better keep his mouth shut instead of talking nonsense.”
Just about one day after the tweets from the movie star, Bolsonaro made a statement trying to mock DiCaprio on Twitter, writing, “Thanks for your support, Leo! It’s really important to have every Brazilian voting in the coming elections. Our people will decide if they want to keep our sovereignty on the Amazon or be ruled by crooks who serve special foreign interests. Good job in The Revenant.”
– Thanks for your support, Leo! It's really important to have every Brazilian voting in the coming elections. Our people will decide if they want to keep our sovereignty on the Amazon or to be ruled by crooks who serve foreign special interest. Good job in The Revenant! 👍 https://t.co/kg3b6rmPCw
— Jair M. Bolsonaro 2️⃣2️⃣ (@jairbolsonaro) April 29, 2022
It was reported by the Daily Wire, “Bolsonaro later fact-checked DiCaprio, reposting a screenshot of a photo DiCaprio had put up on Instagram.”
“By the way, the picture you posted to talk about the wildfires in the Amazon in 2019 is from 2003,” highlighted Bolsonaro. “There are people who want to arrest Brazilian citizens who make this kind of mistake here in our country. But I’m against this tyrannical idea. So I forgive you. Hugs from Brazil!”
Back in mid-September of 2019, Leonardo DiCaprio also chose to speak out and slam all climate change “deniers” by making use of the speech allowed him by the exclusive Global Citizen Festival in New York City. “It’s become clear that our political leaders have failed to live up to the promises that we celebrated that day,” claimed DiCaprio, seemingly referring to the recent Paris agreement. “Our future is being gambled away, and our leaders, those whom we entrust to protect us and set the example, are either failing to stop these dangerous trends or, in some cases, denying the very science of this climate catastrophe.”
All the while, DiCaprio has been the target of harsh criticism for his penchant for making use of private jets to get to these exclusive climate conferences out in Asia and Europe.
