Oscars 2015: Edward Snowden Responds to ‘Treason’ Joke
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Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for The New Yorker(LOS ANGELES) — Edward Snowden can take a joke.
The star of the Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour was not able to attend the glitzy bash on Sunday “for some treason,” host Neil Patrick Harris quipped after the filmmakers thanked the whistle-blower for his courage.
Snowden has been living in Russia for more than a year after he was granted asylum.
He is wanted in the United States under the federal Espionage Act for revealing classified National Security Agency information, meaning a return to the United States would likely be out of the question unless he wanted to surrender.
In a Reddit Ask Me Anything interview with the team behind Citizenfour, Snowden said he “laughed at NPH.”
“I don’t think it was meant as a political statement, but even if it was, that’s not so bad,” Snowden said of the Oscar host’s clever play on words. “My perspective is if you’re not willing to be called a few names to help out your country, you don’t care enough.”
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