Why is Claire Danes Banned From the Philippines?
What To Know
- Claire Danes was banned from the Philippines after making disparaging remarks about Manila while promoting the 1999 film Brokedown Palace, which was shot there.
- Her comments describing Manila as unpleasant and impoverished led the city council to declare her “persona non grata” and prohibit her films from being shown locally.
- Despite issuing an apology, officials deemed it insincere, and as of 2022, the ban on Danes entering Manila remained in place.
Claire Danes is one of the most respected dramatic actresses of her generation, known for her award-winning roles in My So-Called Life and Homeland, as well as her appearances in ’90s classics like Little Women and Romeo + Juliet. One group of people who are not impressed by Danes, however, is the government of the Philippines, which banned the actress from the country for life over some comments she made after filming the 1999 film Brokedown Palace there.
How did Claire Danes get banned from the Philippines?
20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved.
In the film, Danes and Kate Beckinsale play high school friends who are framed for drug smuggling while on a trip to Thailand, and end up sentenced to serve time in one of the country’s most notorious prisons. Because the film is so critical of the Thai legal system, the decision was made to shoot the film in the Philippines instead—but that decision turned out to bring its own set of troubles for the cast.
In a 1998 interview with Vogue, Danes had some unkind comments for Manila, where the production shot, calling it a “ghastly and weird city.” She then went on to tell Premiere magazine later that year that Manila “smelled of cockroaches, with rats all over, and that there is no sewerage system, and the people do not have anything – no arms, no legs, no eyes.”
In response, Manila’s city council voted to make Danes officially a “persona non grata” in the city, and banned her movies from being show. President Joseph Estrada commented to CBS News at the time that Danes “should not be allowed to come here. She should not even be allowed to set foot here.”
Did Claire Danes apologize for her comments?
Danes was told in 1998 that the ban would continue until she made an apology, which she did, releasing a statement that read, “Because of the subject matter of our film Brokedown Palace, the cast was exposed to the darker and more impoverished places of Manila. My comments in Premiere magazine only reflect those locations, not my attitude towards the Filipino people. They were nothing but warm, friendly, and supportive.”
Is Claire Danes still banned from the Philippines?
(c)20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved./Courtesy Everett Collection
These comments were not enough for the city council member who wrote the resolution banning Danes. In 1998, Councilor Kim Atienza told CBS News that the apology was an “excuse made by Hollywood press officers and not a genuine apology …We are not hard to appease, but we know if an apology is true or not. We will lift the ban only if we are satisfied.”
In 2022, the New Statesman found that Danes was still banned from Manila,