60 minutes logo. CBS/WIKICOMMONS
Mandalay-based monk Ashin Wirathu, the radical 969 movement leader who rose to fresh heights of controversy last month when he was filmed calling UN human rights envoy Yanghee Lee a whore, may be about to see his biggest audience yet.
The monk, who is more active on social media than your average spiritual leader, posted photos on his Facebook page late Thursday of him being interviewed by a “U.S.A. CBS” news team. The post states that the interview occurred on February 23, and includes several images of a cozy, well-lit one on one in the vein of 60 Minutes.
Still, we’ve emailed 60 Minutes for confirmation, and to find out when the potential interview might air.
For a monk famously described as “the face of Buddhist terror” in a Time magazine cover story, copies of which were later banned in Myanmar, Wirathu is quite open with the media. He’s done interviews with, among others, The Wall Street Journal, The Global Post and the Democratic Voice of Burma, where he said he was “delightfully proud” to have defended his religion by making the comment directed at the UN’s Lee.
UPDATE: A 60 minutes spokesman has confirmed a team is in Myanmar, but would not say when the story might be broadcast
