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Hilary Swank stopped by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and explained her paid appearance at the Chechen president, Ramzan Kadyrov’s birthday party and how human rights organizations had contacted her not to go but she was never given the message by her reps…she now knows she will have to do some research before agreeing to do an appearance like that again!
“I was invited by a Turkish real estate company to go and be a proponent of peace; help celebrate the rebuilding of a war-torn city. Grozny city, which is in Chechnya. I get offered appearances all the time. These people were trying to rebuild their lives too. Just seven years ago it was very war-torn and very dangerous. I thought, ‘Absolutely, yes. That’s an incredible thing; I love to travel, I love to meet people. This is an exciting opportunity.’
“Then, once there, on the side of the stage, someone said, ‘It’s the president’s birthday; can you wish him a happy birthday?’ I had never heard of him before. In fact, when they said his name, I couldn’t even say it. So I said, ‘I’ll just say Mr. President,’ is what I’m thinking in my head. So, I went out and I said, ‘Happy birthday, Mr. President,’ after I said my whole speech about it’s great to be a proponent of peace and you guys are doing incredible things rebuilding this city. When I got back, only then was I made aware of who he was. Kadryov. Now I can say his name because of I’ve done my research. He’s a bad, bad guy. Human rights organizations had reached out to warn me before I went but I did not get those warnings, they weren’t shared with me.”
She then went on to fire her manager and some of her agents!
Photo from NBC
