Twitter erupts with flamethrower memes as Bolsonaro v DiCaprio feud over Amazon flares up
The row over rainforest fires in Brazil is far from over after Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio denied President Bolsonaro’s bizarre claim that he financed torching the Amazon, prompting fiery memes on Twitter.
“While worthy of support, we did not fund the organizations targeted,” the actor wrote on Instagram, rebutting Bolsonaro’s allegations, without mentioning him by name.
The Hollywood A-lister has become a household name in celebrity activism, championing various environmental causes across the globe. In his post, he promised to continue to support everyone in Brazil “who are working tirelessly to secure the Amazon for the future of all Brazilians.”
DiCaprio came under fire from Bolsonaro over the weekend, with the Brazilian president accusing him of funding NGOs that supposedly set the Amazon rainforest ablaze in order to attract more donations, without providing any evidence.
“This Leonardo DiCaprio is a cool guy, right? Giving money to torch the Amazon,” the Brazilian leader said. He earlier made similar allegations towards the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which denied both starting fires and receiving donations from DiCaprio.
The bizarre spat, meanwhile, prompted a flurry of jokes on Twitter, mostly parodying iconic scenes from DiCaprio’s movies with reference to him trying to burn the Amazon. A handful of memes came straight from this year’s Quentin Tarantino flick ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ in which Leo’s character wields a flamethrower.
Others brought up his role in ‘The Revenant,’ which earned DiCaprio an Oscar for Best Actor.
“What are you doing, Jack? Planning to set the Amazon on fire,” one user wrote, while posting a screenshot from the 1997 movie ‘Titanic.’
Earlier this year, Bolsonaro had a high-profile Twitter fight with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who sent an alarmist “our house is burning” tweet about the Amazon fires during a G7 event in France. Bolsonaro responded by accusing him of using an outdated photo of the Amazon and exhibiting a colonialist attitude towards Brazil.
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