Angelina Jolie Hates Joseph Kony
Angelina Jolie, who serves as Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, finds Ugandan warload Joseph Kony horrendous.
"[Kony]'s an extraordinarily horrible human being," Angelina told the U.K.'s The Telegraph at the Third Annual Women In The World Summit in New York City Thursday.
The actress later told "Extra" that she felt inspired to see so many "young people rising up" in support of Kony's arrest.
Invisible Children, Inc., a San Diego-based nonprofit, launched the 30-minute documentary and campaign Monday to raise support for the arrest of Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, a militia group that terrorized northern Uganda with torture, killings and kidnappings. In the past, he also forced thousands of children to fight in his army.
The documentary video, "Kony 2012," went viral within two days, catapulted by a social media-savvy younger audience, and now has over 50 million views on YouTube. The film's wide and rapid international attention baffling diplomats and foreign affairs experts who had been working in the region for years but has also drawn numerous criticisms about Invisible Children's agenda.
This isn't the first time Jolie has been outspokenly angry against Kony.
Jolie sat down for an interview with "Nightline" anchor Cynthia McFadden in March 2010 to promote her film, "Salt," and talk about her humanitarian efforts.
In "Salt," Jolie stars as a CIA operative who is on the run from the agency after a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. Jolie's character is forced to fend for herself, and to sort out who she can trust and who is evil.
At the time, Jolie told McFadden that there were a "few bad people," in real life, that "if I was left, you know, alone in a room with, I'd be tempted" to take down.
"Joseph Kony," she said. "I hate him."
Her anger even then towards Kony was a visceral reminder of just how tough the actress can be when she's fighting for a cause - Since 2001, Jolie has conducted humanitarian field missions in more than 20 countries, launched a foundation to help combat extreme poverty and protect natural resources, and adopted sons Maddox, 10, from Cambodia, and Pax, 8, from Vietnam, as well as daughter Zahara, 6, from Ethiopia.
"When I have to protect something in my life or when I've decided there's something I have to accomplish, I do, I do kind of push to the end and I don't take 'no' very well," Jolie said. "If it came down to something I had to do, I would believe in what I'm fighting for and I'm not afraid."
