Brad, Angelina and the Rise of ‘Celebrity Colonialism’
According to some reports, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had veto power over the journalists admitted to Namibia. "What gives two Hollywood actors the right to shut down an African nation so that they can have a special experience?" Curious?
According to some reports, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had veto power over the journalists admitted to Namibia. “What gives two Hollywood actors the right to shut down an African nation so that they can have a special experience?” Curious?
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...Brendan O’Neill:
Over the past six weeks a Western security force has effectively taken over the small African nation of Namibia. A beach resort in Langstrand in Western Namibia has been sealed off with security cordons, and armed security personnel have been keeping both local residents and visiting foreigners at bay. A no-fly zone has been enforced over part of the country. The Westerners have also demanded that the Namibian government severely restrict the movement of journalists into and out of Namibia. The government agreed and, in a move described by one human rights organisation as ‘heavy-handed and brutal’, banned certain reporters from crossing its borders.
However, this Western security force is not a US or European army plundering Namibia’s natural resources or threatening to topple its government. It is the security entourage of one Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the celebrity couple better known for living it up in LA than slumming it in Namibia. They reportedly wanted their first child to be born in Namibia because the country is ‘the cradle of human kind’ and it would be a ‘special’ experience. And it seems that no security measure is too stringent in the name of making Ms Jolie feel special. Welcome to the new celebrity colonialism.
This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
LGBTQIA+
Countries in Africa have some of the harshest and most discriminatory LGBTQ+ policies in the world.
Poverty and high rates of unemployment contribute to brutality against women in this southwestern African country.
Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges interviews Dr. Hage Geingob about Namibia's continuing fight for justice and economic independence.
After fierce debate, disagreements and walkouts, the motion was adopted on the final day of the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress.
Support for a universal basic income is growing. In Europe, for example, the Dutch city of Utrecht is about to introduce an experiment that aims “to challenge the notion that people who receive public money need to be patrolled and punished." Here, the political, philosophical and economic arguments are made clear.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.