Early Wednesday morning in Los Angeles, a marijuana activist credited the 35-year-old actor with springing him from jail. Todd McCormick told a local L.A. TV station that it was the former Cheers bartender himself (or, rather, a third party acting on behalf of the actor) who ponied up the $500,000 for bail.
Hours later, in San Francisco, the Wood-man's attorney announced a deal that probably will keep Harrelson out of court for that little Golden Gate Bridge-climbing adventure he partook in last November. The People vs. Larry Flynt star will pay a $1,000 fine and perform 25 hours of community service to settle the misdemeanor charge facing him, lawyer Douglas Horngrad said. His free-spirited client won't have to enter a guilty plea if the judge approves those conditions next month.
Harrelson has maintained his innocence all along, saying he was just exercising his right to free speech when he scaled the bridge to make a statement about an endangered Northern California redwood grove.
And, finally, on one more semi-related front: An Oregon-based company is touting its deal with Harrelson to endorse its new line of...yes, hemp shoes. (You were expecting red meat or nuclear warheads, perhaps?) It's Harrelson's first-ever foray into the domain of pitchmeisters like Michael Jordan. Unlike Jordan, though, who keeps his tootsies warm and snugly inside leather Nikes, Harrelson's going to be lending his support to Headwaters, street-wear hikers made from hemp (the plant-life cousin of marijuana) and other environmentally correct products.
Whew.
So, how's Woody taking all this in? Don't know. He's in Australia making a new movie, The Thin Red Line. Harrelson's spokesman was unavailable for comment--his office not even confirming that it was Harrelson's half-million that led to Todd McCormick's release from jail. (Irony aside: One of McCormick's lawyers is Alan Isaacman--the legal eagle Edward Norton portrayed, opposite Harrelson, in Larry Flynt.)
Call Harrelson flighty, but he's not a fly-by-night where activism is concerned. Last year, he was arrested (the charges were later dropped) for planting hemp seeds in Kentucky in yet another protest. (This one a statement of support for the outlawed hemp crop.) He also earlier indicated his backing for McCormick--busted last month after police discovered the man had quite a green thumb where marijuana is concerned.
They found 4,000 pot plants in the guy's house.