In what may have been a slight misstep, from a PR point of view, Leonardo DiCaprio took a private jet to New York this week to receive an award for his services to the environment, then immediately jumped on another one, back to Paris, for another gala event.
Leo, who has donated tens of millions of dollars of his own money to environmental causes over the last several years, was in New York to attend the Riverkeeper Fishermen’s Ball, and be honoured for his contributions for keeping the city’s rivers clean.
The next day, he hopped back to France to attend the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Gala at the Hotel do Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes. A representative for Leo defended the trip to US Weekly, saying:
“He was asked to speak at both Riverkeeper and amfAR events, but the only way to attend the two fundraisers was to hitch a ride with flights that were already planned. Leo helped both events raise millions, donated his own funds, auctioned off his house and had speaking roles in both programs.”
This year, via his foundation, Leo pledged $15 million to support a variety of environmental organisations at the World Economic forum; last year, he pledged a further $15 million, and before that, gave more than $6.4 million to causes in Nepal and Ecuador.
You might think that he’s accrued enough good karma that he can do a flight or two across the Atlandic, but some environmentalists cried foul. The New York Times’ Page Six ran a piece quoting environmentalist Robert Rapier, who said:
“[Leo] demonstrates exactly why our consumption of fossil fuels continues to grow. It’s because everyone loves the combination of cost and convenience they offer. Alternatives usually require sacrifice of one form or another. Everybody says, ‘I’ve got a good reason for consuming what I consume’ … It’s the exact same rationalization for billions of people.”
As you ponder whether Leo deserves a break on this one, here’s his Oscars speech from earlier this year, in which he rallied against climate change:
