Crowe says that Al Qaeda plotted to kidnap him

The Al Qaeda terrorist network wanted to kidnap Russell Crowe as part of a “cultural destabilization plot,” the Oscar-winning actor reports.

In an interview published in the March edition of GQ Magazine, Crowe said FBI agents told him of the threat in 2001, in the months before he won a best actor Oscar for his role as Maximus in “Gladiator.”

“That was the first [time] I’d ever heard the phrase Al Qaeda,” Crowe said. “It was about -- and here’s another little touch of irony -- taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as sort of a cultural destabilization plot.” He hails from New Zealand.

It was not clear if there were other targets in the plot. Crowe said he was shadowed by FBI agents after the threat and hired private security guards.