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Cambodian charity threatens Jolie with
lawsuit
Showbiz Desk
PHNOM PENH—A Cambodian charity threatened Wednesday to sue actress
Angelina Jolie for breach of contract, saying the Hollywood star had
reneged on a promise to give $1.5 million over five years to wildlife
conservation.
However, Stephan Bognar, the Cambodia-based head of the star’s Maddox
Jolie Pitt Project, said the relationship with Cambodian Vision in
Development (CVD) had ended amicably in December because their aid work
was “moving on to a new level.”
“Angelina and I will be unveiling our new program and commitment to
Cambodia in about a month,” Bognar told Reuters from the western town of
Battambang. Much of the organization’s work would centre around
community development, rather than wildlife conservation, he said.
Besides accusing Jolie of breaking funding promises, CVD head Mounh
Sarath said his organization had taken exception to reported suggestions
from Jolie’s lawyer that CVD had misappropriated some of her donations
and was considering a libel action.
“I have been asking Jolie and her lawyer to give me an appropriate
answer, but so far no answer,” Mounh Sarath told newsmen from Battambang.
“Now I give her one week and if there is still no answer I will a file
suit in the local court of Battambang.”
The Oscar-winning actress, who adopted a Cambodian son, Maddox, in 2002,
was granted special citizenship of the war-scarred southeast Asian
nation last year in recognition of her environmental contributions. |