14 DAY TRIAL // Jason Russell, the co-founder of Invisible Children and the man responsible for one of the biggest viral campaigns in years, Kony 2012, had not taken drugs or consumed alcohol prior to this weekend's meltdown, the family says in a new statement.
Russell was detained in San Diego after having a very public meltdown, which saw him wander the streets ripping off his clothes until left with none, yelling profanities, pounding the pavement with his fists and acting erratically.
Police did not press charges against him, but he was placed on psychiatric involuntary hold for an evaluation, as we also informed you at the time.
In a new statement cited by AceShowbiz, Jason's wife, Danica Russell, insists that her husband was not under the influence of anything when he caused the scene that's been making the rounds online, especially since there are at least two videos available.
The pressure that came with the Kony 2012 campaign, after the video was released and became one of the most talked about topics online (which also implies a lot of negativity), led to Jason's burning out.
He was exhausted and dehydrated, Danica says.
“[He] did some irrational things brought on by extreme exhaustion and dehydration,” she says.
“We thought a few thousand people would see the film, but in less than a week, millions of people around the world saw it. While that attention was great for raising awareness about Joseph Kony, it also brought a lot of attention to Jason,” Danica adds in the same statement.
Eventually, Jason broke under this kind of attention. The result was his hospitalization over the weekend.
“Because of how personal the film is, many of the attacks against it were also very personal, and Jason took them very hard,” his wife explains.
However, that Jason acted in such a shameful way doesn't mean to say that his work on Kony 2012 and the Invisible Children should be annulled, his wife stresses in the same statement.
“On our end, the focus remains only on his health, and protecting our family. We'll take care of Jason, you take care of the work. The message of the film remains the same: stop at nothing,” Danica concludes.