Update!

Harrison Ford Threatened With Deportation From Indonesia? Report Is Completely False

Iconic actor is rumored to have ruffled some feathers during a visit to the archipelago, but those reports are completely false

By Josh Grossberg Sep 11, 2013 4:12 PMTags
Harrison FordCourtesy: Jeff Schear/Getty Images

UPDATE: Sept. 11, 2013: A rep for Ford tells E! News that reports the star was threatened with deportation are completely false. In fact, not only is the rumor untrue, but it had no basis to begin with—even if the official who purportedly took offense had made the unfounded threat, he never had the power to do so in the first place. Bottom line: no one messes with Harrison Ford.

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He may have played the president of the United States in Air Force One, but according to reports (update: since disproven), Indonesia didn't exactly rolling out the red carpet for Harrison Ford.

An Indonesian government official reporteldy threatened to deport the screen legend from the Southeast Asian country on Tuesday after Ford lobbed some tough questions during an interview for Years of Living Dangerously, a Showtime documentary the veteran actor and longtime environmental activist is filming about climate change.

Per media reports, Ford ticked off presidential adviser Andi Arief, who accused the 71-year-old of behaving rudely during a sit-down with forestry minister Zulkifli Hasan in the capital city of Jakarta.

After noting that Hasan thought he'd be briefed beforehand on what was to be discussed, Arief said he was "shocked that as [Ford's] crew came in, they started filming and interviewing him…and attacking him with questions."

"There's no privilege for him although he is a great actor," the state news agency Anta (via the U.K.'s Telegraph) quoted the adviser as saying. "His crew and those who were helping him in Indonesia must be questioned to find out their motives for harassing a state institution."

He added: "If necessary, we will deport him."

That last threat proved to be moot, however, as Ford took a flight out of Indonesia that night after meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about Indonesia's environmental degradation.

 

An angry Hasan described feeling ambushed by the Star Wars star after he was asked about illegal logging, something Ford had seen firsthand during a tour of Indonesia's vast rainforests before their meeting.

But if Mother Earth has a defender, it's definitely the erstwhile Indiana Jones.

When he's not swinging into action on the big screen, Ford spends a lot of his time supporting environmental causes as the vice chairman of Conservation International. He's also lent his voice to a series of public service announcements on behalf of EarthShare, a national federation that supports leading American environmental and conservation charities.

(Originally published Sept. 11, 2013 @ 9:11 a.m. PT)