Kony 2012 Filmmaker Jason Russell Opens Up About Nude Public Meltdown
Jason Russell said his mind "betrayed" him during his nude public meltdown.
Oct. 8, 2012 -- Seven months ago, Kony 2012 filmmaker Jason Russell was moving at a frenetic pace, crisscrossing the country doing interviews and making appearances, trying to keep up with the viral success of his campaign.
And then came the naked public meltdown on a San Diego street that was captured on video.
He addressed the bizarre incident in a new video he hopes will bring interest and action back to Kony 2012, a campaign that calls for the arrest of alleged Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.
"My mind betrayed me and I was hospitalized," Russell said in the new video. "If you're put in the position to give answers to every question a dozen times over, your mind starts to lose track of where you are, if you've slept, who's for you, who's against you." Attempts to reach Russell for comment were unsuccessful.
Supporters, many of whom learned about alleged Ugandan war lord Joseph Kony for the first time through the video, which was uploaded to YouTube on March 5, purchased t-shirts and action kits to help fund Invisible Children's quest to bring Kony to justice.
The film garnered one million views in 36 hours and has been seen over 100 million times, far exceeding the group's wildest dreams.
However, with the intense interest came scrutiny.
"We didn't see the tsunami coming. We just turned around and we were all under water," Russell said in the video.
Ten days after the original video was released, a naked and screaming Russell was held down near a San Diego intersection until police arrived. No charges were filed.
Following the meltdown, Russell told the Los Angeles Times he spent six weeks in care facilities before he returned home and kept a low profile.
Russell, 33, is a filmmaker by trade and works full-time as a creative director at his organization, Invisible Children, which he started with two college friends in 2004. He is the married father of two children and resides in San Diego, Calif.
Now that he's feeling healthy, Russell said he's hoping to finish what he started.
Kony 2012 is calling on supporters to march around the White House on Nov. 17 to demand Kony be brought to justice.
"We want to do some epic things because our time on Earth is so short," Russell told ABC News as his first campaign was taking off. "Why not do this? Start here with Kony. Use him as the example of what injustice looks like in the world and then we're going to move to the next one and the next one."