DUBAI: Will Smith was in the Middle East on Sunday promoting the movie “Suicide Squad,” but the Hollywood star said his time in Dubai is also a chance to counter an increasingly anti-Muslim climate surrounding the US presidential race.
Smith, who plays the sharpshooter Deadshot in the film, said he’s having fun and tweeting pictures of his time in Dubai, showing that “Hey, it doesn’t look like they hate me, does it?“
“In terms of Islamophobia in America, for me that’s why it’s important to show up,” he said.
He encouraged local film makers and producers to find more ways to tell the story of the region to the world.
“The Middle East can’t allow Fox News to be the arbiter of the imagery, you know. So cinema is a huge way to be able to deliver the truth of the soul of a place to a global audience,” he said.
Smith also spoke about the upcoming US presidential elections, saying he believes it’s important “to speak out about the insanity” surrounding the race.
Earlier in his campaign, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said he would temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States, sparking outcry particularly in Dubai, where Trump has lent his name to several high-profile real estate projects.
“As painful as it is to hear Donald Trump talk and as embarrassing as it is as an American to hear him talk, I think it’s good,” Smith said. “We get to know who people are and now we get to cleanse it out of our country.”
Smith has similarly been vocal about issues of race and discrimination in Hollywood. Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith boycotted this year’s Oscar ceremony in protest against two straight years of all-white acting nominees. The boycott by the couple and other prominent black actors prompted the film academy to promise it would double the number of female and minority members and diversify its leadership.
He said Sunday he believes it’s his responsibility to create an impression with people “where when they see a black man, the energy that we had can be what they remember.”
“They have to know that your black skin won’t hurt them,” he said, recalling advice he’d received years ago from the late South African leader Nelson Mandela.
Will Smith counters Trump, Islamophobia on Mideast tour
Will Smith counters Trump, Islamophobia on Mideast tour
Trunk snapped off famed Bernini statue in Rome square
ROME, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A marble elephant designed by Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini has been damaged, with its left tusk found snapped off and lying at the base of the monument in the heart of Rome, authorities said.
The damage was uncovered on Monday night and police said they would review video footage from Piazza della Minerva to determine whether the tusk was vandalised or simply fell off following weeks of unusually heavy rains.
Italy's Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli made clear he thought it was deliberate, saying the 17th statue, which supports an ancient Egyptian obelisk, was victim of an "absurd act of barbarity".
"It is unacceptable that once again the nation's artistic and cultural heritage must suffer such serious damage," he said in a statement.
It is not the first time the sculpture, popularly known as the Elefantino (little elephant), has been damaged.
In November 2016, the tip of the same tusk was similarly found broken off. The piece was reattached during restoration work.
The sculpture, created in 1667 by Ercole Ferrata based on a design by Bernini, stands a short distance from the Pantheon, one of most visited tourist sites in Rome. (Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Crispian Balmer)
