‘Kony 2012’s’ Jason Russell Talks Meltdown: ‘That’s Not Who I Am’

October 03, 2012 Hot Topics

Jason Russell, creator of “Kony 2012,” opened up to Oprah Winfrey about his public meltdown back in March.



The filmmaker got the world’s attention with a viral video about the atrocities of Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, but the cause was soon overshadowed by Russell’s own erratic behavior.
 
At the height of the Kony video’s success, Jason went into what his wife Danica calls “reactive psychosis.” An online video shows the activist, naked in San Diego, yelling, pounding his fists on the ground and disrupting traffic.
 
For the first time since the March incident, Russell and his wife are talking about the breakdown on Sunday’s episode of “Oprah’s Next Chapter.”   
 
He tells the host it was an “out of body experience,” but he does recall some of his wild antics.
 
Jason explained, "I remember me flipping off cars… I think I was stopping cars in the street. People said I was laying in the street – it's a busy street – I was laying in the street."
 
He also remembers "walking around snapping my fingers up and down" and "slapping my hands on the ground as hard as I can. Just slapping them on the ground. Talking to myself. Ranting. Raving. Talking about good versus evil, God and the devil. I mean it was just very out of control."
 
Russell knows one thing, “That wasn't me, that person on the street corner ranting and raving and naked is not me, that's not who I am."
 
Catch the Sunday episode on OWN at 9 PM.

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