NBCStill in shock about the whole Jason Russell situation? Us too.
And although we probably won't be able to shake the mental image of the Kony 2012 director getting detained in San Diego for being drunk and allegedly—ahem—masturbating in public, and then his subsequent hospitalization, the Russell family has released a statement to E! News to make sure we don't get sidetracked from the real problem at hand.
"Thank you to everyone concerned with Jason and his health," his wife, Danica Russell, began.
"Jason has dedicated his adult life to this cause, leading up to KONY2012. We thought a few thousand people would see the film, but in less than a week, millions of people around the world saw it. 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.
Let us say up front that Jason has never had a substance abuse or drinking problem, and this episode wasn't caused by either of those things. But yes, he did some irrational things brought on by extreme exhaustion and dehydration. On our end—the focus remains only on his health, and protecting our family. We'll take care of Jason, you take care of the work.
The message of the film remains the same: stop at nothing."