Cameron apologises to Peru
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Perhaps she would have been better off with an Anya Hindmarch ‘I’m Not A Plastic Bag’… Shrek star Cameron Diaz has been trying to make amends for offending thousands of Peruvians with her choice of accessory.
The Charlie’s Angels actress and ex of Justin Timberlake visited Peru’s historic Machu Picchu site last week, innocently carrying a green bag with a red star logo and Chinese characters which spelled out the phrase ‘Serve the people’. She had bought the bag when visiting China.
Unknown to the star, this is a cause of great offence to Peruvians, as it was a favourite phrase of the Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung – the Peruvians fought Chinese Maoist rebels in the 1980s and 1990s and nearly 70,000 died. Local human rights activist Pablo Rojas said "I don't think she should have used that bag where the followers of that ideology did so much damage."
Diaz was horrified to find out she’d been reminding her hosts of such a terrible time in their history, and said in a statement that she didn’t realise that the slogan was “potentially hurtful”.
She said: "I sincerely apologise to anyone I may have inadvertently offended. I'm sorry for any people's pain and suffering, and it was certainly never my intention to reopen what I now know is a painful wound in this country's history."
The actress was in town recording a TV show celebrating Peruvian culture. Obviously she now knows a bit more about it than she did before she got off the plane!
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