via TMZ.com
Screenshot of alleged footage of Jason Russell during his meltdown on Thursday in California.
NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Jason Russell on a recent appearance on appearance on NBC's ‘Today.’
The wife of Jason Russell - the man behind the viral Kony 2012 video - insists her husband was not using drugs or alcohol before he was detained in California Thursday for running around naked while allegedly masturbating in public.
Danica Russell said in a statement late Friday that her husband "did some irrational things brought on by extreme exhaustion and dehydration."
Jason Russell was thrust into the sometimes harsh, international spotlight earlier this month after his charity organization, Invisible Children, released a documentary about Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.
Kony kidnapped thousands of children to use as soldiers in his Lord's Resistance Army, which terrorized the country in the late 1990s and early 2000s. More than 80 million viewers have watched the video on You Tube since it was uploaded on March 5.
But the video also came under scrutiny from critics who insist the 30-minute film oversimplifies the issue, misrepresents the country and is factually inaccurate.
"We thought a few thousand people would see the film, but in less than a week, millions of people around the world saw it," Danica Russell said.
"While that attention was great for raising awareness about Joseph Kony, it also brought a lot of attention to Jason and, because of how personal the film is, many of the attacks against it were also very personal, and Jason took them very hard," she said of her husband, who narrated the film.
The 33-year-old San Diego native was detained on Thursday in the California city’s Pacific Beach neighborhood after witnesses saw him running through the streets, making sexual gestures, and screaming and banging his fists on the pavement. TMZ acquired footage of the meltdown.
Jason Russell is now under psychiatric watch until authorities can determine if he poses a risk to himself or others.
With News Wire Services
Has Jason never heard of African voodoo? You have to be careful when you step in their world. No I am not crazy. They just know how to mess with your mind.
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