So through an associative thoughtline from We Are Who We Are (see previous post) to Chloë Sevigny to Boys Don’t Cry, I suddenly wondered what happened to Hilary Swank, whom I haven’t seen in a movie in years and years.
I didn’t get a conclusive answer as to why she’s been lower-profile (there are hypotheses), but I did find out that she committed a massive PR boo-boo in 2011, when she accepted cash money to attend (and give a speech at) the birthday party of Ramzan Kadyrov, the tyrant of Chechnya–who is sometimes known as “Putin’s little dragon” and whom the Human Rights Watch accused of “crimes against humanity.” Oops.
Here’s an op-ed that does a 1:1 mapping of progressively-minded movies Hilary Swank has starred in, vs. the corresponding human rights violations that Kadyrov has committed.
Hilary Swank probably was unaware of all this and the moral of the story is that you should not attend every birthday party you’re invited to, especially when being paid to go.
