Dennis Rodman Gets Emotional in Clip From North Korea Documentary

NBA star said he was getting death threats over his first visit to the country.

ByABC News
January 20, 2015, 7:36 PM
Dennis Rodman appears in an interview posted by Deadline Hollywood to YouTube on Jan. 20, 2015.
Dennis Rodman appears in an interview posted by Deadline Hollywood to YouTube on Jan. 20, 2015.
DeadlineHollywood/YouTube

— -- The first clip released from the documentary filmed during Dennis Rodman's controversial trip to North Korea shows how the former NBA star didn't seem to know what he was getting into.

Rodman is seen getting choked up while discussing the lofty goals he had for the 2012 basketball-themed trip and the backlash he received for agreeing to meet with the country's infamous dictator.

"No one's ever done this," he said in a clip shared by Deadline. "You know, you've got the Jay Zs, the Beyonces, stuff like that-- none of these people in the world that's [sic] way more famous than I am are doing what I'm doing," he said before pausing. A tear can be seen coming down his face past his large bedazzled sunglasses.

"Really what am I doing? And it's like 'Don't you know that that he just killed his uncle and chopped off his head?' And I said 'No I didn't know that, what?!' 'Don't you know he killed people a lot?' 'No I don't know that. Do we in America? Yeah! What?!' Why am I doing it?" he said.

PHOTO: The movie poster for "Big Bang in Pyongyang".
The movie poster for "Big Bang in Pyongyang".

Rodman claims that he received death threats over the trip, where he was accompanied by several Harlem Globetrotters players.

"Why am I trying to change s***? You know, I'm not Martin Luther King... If someone [wants to] shoot me please do it today," he said.