Angelina Jolie Nearly Brought Down Notorious Ugandan Warlord Joseph Kony By Taking Him on a Dinner Date

Leaked emails reveal Jolie’s plan to arrest the star of the viral documentary “Kony 2012.”

Remember Joseph Kony, the Ugandan warlord who became a global sensation five years ago when a video about his atrocities went viral? Kony 2012 painted a brutal picture of a militia leader preying on children, who were coerced into becoming soldiers and sex slaves. And for a time, his capture became a cause célèbre for many, including actress Angelina Jolie. 

Thanks to a trove of leaked emails from International Criminal Court  (ICC), we’re now learning just how far Jolie was willing to go to catch Kony.

Jolie “has the idea to invite Kony to dinner and then arrest him,” former ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo wrote in an email obtained by Mediapart, a French investigative website.

“Forget other celebrities, she is the one,” he wrote in another email. “She loves to arrest Kony. She is ready. Probably Brad will go also.” Brad, of course, refers to Jolie’s now-ex husband Brad Pitt.

The Sunday Times reports that Moreno Ocampo laid out the plan in a series of emails. Jolie and Pitt would travel to the Central African Republican with a team of Special Forces. They would use Jolie’s fame to entice Kony into having dinner, and then the soldiers would snatch him up. The Australian has the emails:

He wrote to the actress: “Apparently you can be embedded with the special forces that are chasing Kony. Can Brad go with you?”

Jolie replied: “Brad is being supportive. Let’s discuss logistics. Much love Xxx.”

Mr Moreno Ocampo described how Jolie had suggested she could lure Kony to dinner as a trap to arrest him: “It will be great to spend more time with the American troops,” he wrote to Jolie. “They are eager to get Kony, but after meeting you, they will do it.”

The plan never came together. Instead, it was Moreno Ocampo who became smitten with Jolie. The Argentinian lawyer, leaked emails show, was constantly sucking up to Jolie. He wrote to her for advice, complimented her bad movies, and writing emails saying things like: “Dear Angie, I hope you are well. I miss you.” Jolie didn’t reply.

It gets worse for Moreno Ocampo though. One of his last attempted communications with Jolie came when he emailed her assistant after reading that the actress was ill. “I realise how much I love her,” he wrote. Jolie’s assistant replied only to say that Jolie had changed her email address.