Does anyone except Russell Crowe believe he was the target of Al Qaeda?

[chookie]

Let's have a look at some of their operations:
1) Destruction of Khobar Towers
2) Simultaneous bombing of 2 African Embassies
3) Attacking the USS Cole
4) Destruction of the WTC Towers
5) Attack of the Pentagon

Looks like the pattern is infrequent, but highly detailed and well-executed plans on a vast scale, selecting high profile targets, audacious terrorism on the scale of destruction of modern warfare.

Hard to imagine an organization with a CV that reads like that plotting to kidnap Russell Crowe.

Has he been smoking some bad grass? Did he also say be was also being targetted by the Freemasons, the Knights Templar, and Windham Earle of the Black Lodge? Is it maybe time for him to talk to his doctor about Depakote?

I see that today he is saying he has "been asked" not to reveal further details -- which he hopes will sound exciting and mysterious, but I think someone took his aside and told him he sounded barmy!

Wacky.

[GOPisEvil]

1. Osama just wants an autograph.

I hear he's a big "Gladiator" fan.

[Rowdyboy]

2. Seemed a bit odd to me, too....

I mean, I like Russell and all, but....

[JohnLocke]

35. See post #34 (nt).

[MrScorpio]

3. His Aussie Hunkiness is an affront to Islam

Jeez, can't you see that?

[Xithras]

4. That's a tough one

On one hand, it seems "beneath" the image they try to create for themselves.

On the other hand, how would Americans react if videos started showing up on the internet of Al Queda sawing off the heads of our favorite actors and actresses? What would that due to the average American's faith in Bush to "protect" them from terrorism?

[chookie]

6. If they were mobsters, maybe

Maybe some small time punk terror group in need of cash.

Al Qaeda's fingerprint is spectacular military strikes. They do not do small potatoes.

I believe Mr Crowe is delusional, or has an ego of epic proportions.

[blondeatlast]

22. Well, you do have a good point, but

this is Russell Crowe.

[CanuckAmok]

5. But here's something too coincidental to ignore:

This revelation seems to have come at just about the time it became clear that the public really doesn't give a shit about Russel Crowe anymore.

[dolo amber]

7. Ooooh....

:tinfoilhat:

[chookie]

8. Upset that Michael Jackson gets all the attention N/t

[Pied Piper]

21. Does anyone besides me remember

that Michael Jackson claimed to have received anthrax mail shortly after 911, and right about the time that it really did show for some prominent Dems?

[chookie]

26. Don't think so; he THOUGHT he had contracted it

from Salon.com

Sick puppy

Has Michael Jackson's mask let him down?

The musician is apparently convinced he's caught a few anthrax spores through what's left of his nose.

"I don't know if I should say this, but I'm very sick," Jackson told the London News of the World. "They're going to test me and the children for anthrax. We're all very, very sick right now ... My chest burns very, very much. It's hard to breathe. And when I swallow, it stings."

So much for "Invincible." "

[chookie]

9. Seriously

It's got to be weird to go from being chased by tabloid reporters 24/7, and entertainment magazines writing about every aspect of your life just a couple of years ago -- to utter silence and lack of interest. He doesn't see real stable to begin with -- I think he misses the attention, so he embroidered his plotted kidnap to include Al Qaeda. Which was a very stupid thing to do.

[CanuckAmok]

10. I know some people who have worked with him...

...the skinny is he's a completely self-involved prick, and, yes, his perception of his place in the world was seriously skewed, even before he made it "big" in the USA.

[chookie]

12. That's what I have heard too

Vastly over-inflated self-importance. A bully too.

That's what made me think he elaborated the original kidnap story, to make it seem as though he was so important that he was at the center of the clash of civilizations. It's laughable.

[CanuckAmok]

16. it's like when James Woods drew a link between himself and Atta.

Looking for a link...BRB.

[CanuckAmok]

17. Links (grain 'o salt territory):

http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/actor.htm

http://portlandmercury.com/2001-09-27/one_day.html

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 Ever wonder who's creepier than James Woods? According to The Oregonian, Woods himself found out on a Boston to LA flight about a month ago, when he observed four guys of apparent Middle Eastern origin who were acting so oddly that he reported them to the flight attendants and authorities on the ground when he landed. Woods told the feds that he was alone in first class with the four men and noticed during the entire cross-country flight that none of them had any snacks, nor did they read, sleep, or appear to make themselves comfortable. They sat erect in their seats and stared straight ahead, saying nothing to the flight attendants, and speaking to each other only in hushed tones. Woods thinks the flight may have been a dry run for the September 11 attacks. You know you're sending out bad vibes if James Woods thinks you're sinister. Then again, maybe they were just working up the nerve to ask for an autograph.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

27. Russel who?

Imho the fucker hasn't done a bit of good since Mystery, Alaska

[Bullwinkle925]

11. Remember - this is while he was filming "A Beautiful Mind" - think he got

caught up in his role? LOL.

[Blue-Jay]

13. They can have him.

I'm torn on that guy. He's a pretty good actor, but still manages to be an insufferable prick of a person.

He reminds me of the song "Drink & Fight" by The Mudmen.

[regnaD kciN]

14. Maybe al-Qaeda was trying to improve its public image?

:evilgrin:

Anyone want to take some bets as to whether Russell will turn into the Mel Gibson of the 2020s? :tinfoilhat:

[JohnLocke]

15. It was confirmed by the FBI (nt).

[CanuckAmok]

18. Must be true then (nt).

;)

[chookie]

19. Link?

I've read that Crowe says this and Crowe says that -- but no independent substantiation. You got some?

[JohnLocke]

34. Here

"The FBI later confirmed that its agents--clad in tuxedoes to blend in with the glitterati--were shadowing Crowe during the 2001 Golden Globes and Academy Awards, where he won Best Actor for Gladiator."
(...)
"Crowe said he first thought the scheme was part of some elaborate Oscar publicity stunt hatched by studio executives to help sway judges to his corner, but agents soon convinced him the threat was legitimate."
"Eventually, Crowe was informed that the FBI "thought the threat had probably, or had possibly been overstated, and then they started to question their sources."
----
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,16084,00.html?tnews
----
"'In light of that, we have confirmed that we have an investigation into a plot to kidnap him,' FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley said. She said the investigation was continuing.
Crowe's publicist, Robin Baum, said, 'We're aware of and the FBI has been helpful in guiding us, and he has taken the necessary security precautions.'"
----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1206789.stm

[chookie]

36. But no mention of Al Qaeda

I know there was a real threat of kidnap, but the FBI has not concured that Al Qaeda was involved, or the threat was ANYTHING like Crowe now claims it to be.

[chookie]

20. One blogger writes:

"After a shy terrorist cell member at the back of the cave gingerly raised his hand and suggested that kidnapping an Australian actor with a crappy band might not have quite the destabilizing effect Al Qaeda was seeking, they went with, you know, that other thing with the planes."
http://www.defamer.com/hollywood/gossip/al-qaeda-wanted-to-kidnap-russell-crowe-035354.php

[Dave Reynolds]

23. I think Al Qaeda

was behind a scathing review of "Master and Commander".

[mcscajun]

24. I don't know whether to believe him, but…

Here's a story from Salon.com from the time in question:

March 20, 2001

"If the ransom was not paid within a certain amount of time, they would cut off one of Crowe's fingers every hour," police sources in Los Angeles reportedly told the U.K.'s Sunday People. "He was going to be maimed and tortured until the ransom was paid. And if the ransom still wasn't paid, the kidnappers were going to kill the actor."

And while the gladiator himself is not taking the plot too seriously -- he recently joked that if the kidnappers successfully snagged him, they'd soon be passing around a hat to pay to get him off their hands -- the FBI reportedly is and has continued to offer him beefed-up security, at least until it fingers the culprits.

But Crowe may not be the only actor in apparent danger these days, according to the British papers. The U.K. Daily Express reports that Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith have hired a batch of bodyguards to guard them in Paris after a Basque terrorist group apparently threatened to kill Banderas.

http://archive.salon.com/people/col/reit/2001/03/20/nptues/

[blondeatlast]

25. What do Russell Crowe, Melanie Griffith, and Antonia Banderas all have

in zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :boring:

[Wat_Tyler]

29. Basque terrorists?

What do they do, attack you with over-elaborate lingerie?

[chookie]

30. Thanks for that

I believe the man was seen as a potential target by some grotty criminal group which wanted ransom, which likely would have entitled him to FBI protection, but the notion that it was going to be carried out by Al Qaeda to destabilize American culture is quite a stretch of the imagination -- Crowe's imagination, that is.

[Wat_Tyler]

28. Perhaps it was Albert Queda, an angry husband?

[chookie]

31. That's more likely

Criminal/terrorists groups have profiles. They do certain things in a certain way well; nobody does just anything that is awful.

Al Qaeda, when it has targetted individuals, chooses very significant political leaders -- not poxy actors -- and blows them up.

I think if any wacko targetted Crowe, it was on the Dylan Klebold level -- not the Al Qaeda level.

Here's another speculation: if Crowe is not making it up out of whole cloth, and indeed a communication was picked up describing this -- gee, could it have been two Arabic guys who had seen Gladiator, who were describing some gory scene, and the "translator" got the tenses/pronouns wrong? That may sound wacky, but that's exactly how the Jessica Lynch Myth got started -- the events happened as described, but had been carried out by a young male soldier in the convoy....

[chookie]

32. Something fundamentally disturbing if this is true

IF our clever FBI managed to uncover a plot against Russell Crowe in a timely fashion from Arab speakers (supposedly, according to Crowe) or even Al fucking Qaeda -- isn't it MADDENING that they leapt into action to protect HIM, whereas they sat on their hands when it came to the other bigger warnings, like targetting high profile buildings in America using airplanes as missiles?

HUH???

[PassingFair]

33. Not surprising at all...

I'VE been targeting his hynie for years!

[xmas74]

37. He confused Al-Qaeda and me.

I like 'em scruffy. I've been stalking him for years.