Mick Jagger called out President Donald Trump at a film premiere this weekend in no uncertain terms. The Rolling Stones singer decried the president’s environmental policies in particular, while simultaneously taking shots at British lawmakers and other world leaders.
Jagger was in Italy at the 76th Venice Film Festival this weekend when he made his political statements. According to The Hollywood Reporter, there was a peaceful protest taking place outside of the venue, where hundreds of activists stood opposed to Venetian cruise ships contributing to climate change and immigration issues.
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Jagger was asked to speak about the protests in a joint interview with Donald Sutherland. Both stars were reportedly quick to align themselves with the demonstration.
“I’m absolutely behind that,” said Jagger. “I’m glad they’re doing that because they’re the ones who are going to inherit the planet.”
Taking it one step further, Jagger condemned President Trump for pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement, which set tentative goals to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change around the world.
“We are in a very difficult situation at the moment, especially in the U.S., where all the environmental controls that were put in place — that were just about adequate — have been rolled back by the current administration so much that they are being wiped out,” he said. “The U.S. should be the world leader in environmental control but now it has decided to go the other way.”
Sutherland echoed Jagger, pointing out the places where international policies seemed to be influencing each other for the worse.
“Mick is right when he said the reforms that were instituted during the Obama administration were barely adequate, and now they’re being torn about,” he said. “It’s the same in Brazil and they will be torn apart in England. They have to fight harder, and they have to get as much support as they can among all of you.”
Jagger and Sutherland were both at the festival to promote their new film Burnt Orange Conspiracy. The 76-year-old rock star spoke to the challenges of transitioning into film acting after a long career of stage performances.
“One, if you make a mistake on the stage, if you fall over, you don’t get a retake. If you fall over in the film, it’s fine,” he joked. “It’s a different part of your brain that is activated in acting, which I do very rarely. I enjoy doing it.”
The movie premiered out-of-competition at the festival on Saturday night. There is no word yet on plans for a global release.
