Academy Awards host Neil Patrick Harris caught flak from journalist Glenn Greenwald for what Greenwald called a "stupid and irresponsible" pun about National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, but Snowden said Monday that he didn't mind the joke.
After "Citzenfour," a documentary about Snowden and Greenwald directed by Laura Poitras, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Harris cracked that "Edward Snowden couldn't be here for some treason." Asked about Harris' jab during a Reddit Q & A today, Snowden said it made him chuckle.
"To be honest, I laughed at NPH," he said. "I don't think it was meant as a political statement, but even if it was, that's not so bad. My perspective is if you're not willing to be called a few names to help out your country, you don't care enough."
Snowden, who currently resides in Russia, proceeded to cite Patrick Henry's adage, "If this be treason, make the most of it!"
For his part, Greenwald told BuzzFeed that while he was "gonna go ahead and treat it as a joke," he considered it "pretty pitiful" and "stupid and irresponsible."
“But I’m trying not to make too much out of it," Greenwald added. "Although I’m not succeeding.”
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