After a February visit to North Korea that included a basketball outing with Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, former NBA star Dennis Rodman called the country's supreme leader a "friend for life." On May 7, Rodman asked Kim via Twitter to release U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae, who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for unspecified "hostile acts" against North Korea. Rodman's relationship with Kim is certainly unprecedented, but it's not the first time a celebrity has tried to use the limelight to advocate causes or steer policy. Here are some other celebrities' forays into international diplomacy:
(CNN) -- If any American has the power of persuasion over North Korea's defiant young ruler, it might be eccentric ex-basketball star Dennis Rodman.
So when Rodman digitally called for Kim Jong Un to release U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae, he may have a shot at a response.
"I'm calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I call him "Kim", to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose," Rodman tweeted.
Dennis Rodman is North Korean leader's 'friend for life'
Bae was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor last month after he was convicted of unspecified "hostile acts" against North Korea. The country's state-run Korean Central News Agency said the Korean-American was arrested November 3 after arriving as a tourist in Rason City, a northeastern port near the Chinese border.
A North Korean court has sentenced Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen, to 15 years of hard labor for committing "hostile acts" against the state. Those alleged acts were not detailed by the country's state-run news agency when it announced the sentence Thursday, May 2. Bae, here in a photo from a Facebook page titled Remember Ken Bae, was arrested in November. "This was somebody who was a tour operator, who has been there in the past and has a visa to go to the North," a senior U.S. official told CNN.
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Bae's sister, Terri Chung, told CNN's Anderson Cooper last week that her brother is not a spy.
"He has never had any evil intentions against North Korea, or any other country for that matter," Chung said.
She said her brother owns a tour company and was in North Korea for work.
"He didn't have any problems going there last time, last year five times, so he didn't have any reason to suspect that there would be any trouble this time around," she said.
U.S. officials have struggled to establish how exactly Bae fell afoul of North Korean authorities. The North Korean statement on his conviction provided no details of the allegations against him.
"This was somebody who was a tour operator, who has been there in the past and has a visa to go to the North," a senior U.S. official told CNN on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.
But NK News, a U.S.-based website that focuses on North Korea, suggests Bae has served as a missionary trying to convert North Koreans.
"I knew that Jesus wanted me to be a 'channel' to the North," Bae told a Korean congregation at a St. Louis church in 2011, NK News reported. "This year, I'm working at taking several short term missionary teams into North Korea."
Bae's sentencing came after weeks of intense rhetoric from North Korea, which conducted its third nuclear test in February and launched a satellite into orbit atop a long-range rocket in December.
Washington responded by deploying additional missile interceptors on the West Coast, dispatching a missile defense system to the Pacific territory of Guam and bolstering annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises with overflights by nuclear-capable B-2 and B-52 bombers.
Rodman, the heavily pierced NBA Hall of Famer, made headlines when he befriended North Korea's supreme leader during a visit in February.
"You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim after the two men sat next to each other watching an unusual basketball exhibition in Pyongyang.
But Rodman said he is not an official diplomat between the United States and North Korea.
"I'm not a politician," he tweeted. "Kim Jung Un & North Korean people are basketball fans. I love everyone. Period. End of story."
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In March 2003, Dixie Chicks frontwoman Natalie Maines said to a London audience, "Just so you know, we're on the good side with y'all. We do not want this war, this violence. And we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." That comment led to nationwide backlash and the band has not had a single chart the top 30 since. In this photograph, the Dixie Chicks perform live on stage at The Point Theatre on September 18, 2003, in Dublin, Ireland.
While in self-induced exile in Europe, legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh became an advocate for the prevention of World War II. In 1938, Lindbergh penned a secret memo to the British, stating that military response to Adolf Hitler's violation of the Munich treaty would be "suicide." In 1941, he spoke on behalf of the isolationist America First Committee in Des Moines, Iowa, claiming that if the U.S. were to engage in war against Germany, victory would not be likely. Here, Lindberg testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in January 1941.
In 1972, actress Jane Fonda visited North Vietnam in protest of the Vietnam War. Fonda's visit to Hanoi was marked by a number of controversial events, including a picture showing Fonda seated on an anti-aircraft battery used against U.S. forces. Fonda later apologized for the photo and for the harm it may have caused servicemen and their families. In the photo above, Fonda tours destruction in Hanoi on July 25, 1972.
After her career as child star, Shirley Temple Black was appointed ambassador to the United Nations by President Richard Nixon, ambassador to Ghana by President Gerald Ford and ambassador to Czechoslovakia by President George H.W. Bush. Pictured, Temple Black confers with her secretary, Ruth Underwood, in her embassy office in December 1989.
Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, also known as Ginger Spice, became a representative for the U.N. Population Fund in 1999 and shortly after released the documentary Geri's World Walkabout, which documented her travels with the UN. In 2006, Halliwell traveled to Zambia to promote the prevention of HIV/AIDS and bring awareness to the steadily increasing rates of maternal death. Here, Halliwell speaks at a news conference on global maternal mortality in Washington in May 2008.
In 2006, singer Harry Belafonte, a longtime activist, appeared in Venezuela with Hugo Chavez and made controversial statements about President George W. Bush: "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people support your revolution." Belafonte, center, speaks with residents of a low-income neighborhood in Caracas before meeting Chavez in January 2005.
In 2002, a year before the war in Iraq began, actor Sean Penn met with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and paid a visit to al-Mansour Children's Hospital in Baghdad. Aziz says Penn spoke very strongly against aggression against Iraq by U.S. forces. In 2007, Penn also visited Chavez, to whom he penned a letter criticizing Bush.
Actress Mia Farrow, a longtime advocate for child rights, traveled to Darfur in 2004 (seen here) and 2006 to advocate for the freedom of Darfuri refugees. Farrow later wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal that is widely credited with heightening awareness that eventually led to Sudan accepting a U.N. peacekeeping force.
U2 frontman Bono, who was named the most politically effective celebrity of all time by the National Journal, has campaigned for third-world debt relief since 1999. In March 2002, he appeared next to President George W. Bush for the unveiling of a $5 billion aid package for the world's poorest countries. The two also attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington in February 2006, seen here.
In 2012, actor George Clooney was arrested for civil disobedience during a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy. Clooney has advocated vehemently for a resolution of the Darfur conflict and appeared in the documentary "Darfur Now."
After filming a movie in Cambodia, actress Angelina Jolie began to visit refugee camps around the world and in 2001 was named a goodwill ambassador by the U.N. Refugee Agency. Since then, Jolie has visited refugee camps in more than 30 countries (such as Lebanon in September, seen here) and has been promoted to become special envoy of High Commissioner Antonio Guterres, representing him at the diplomatic level.
Singer Bob Geldof has been a prominent advocate for anti-poverty efforts in Africa alongside fellow Irishman Bono. In 1984, he helped found the charity Band Aid to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia and organized the Live Aid concert the following year. Here, Geldof and Bono hold a news conference on aid to Africa in May 2007.
In 2004, Oprah Winfrey documented her travels to South Africa, where she brought attention to young children affected by HIV/AIDS and living in poverty. Her trip brought in $7 million in donations from around the world. Three years later, Winfrey established the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Actor Don Cheadle has been a prominent activist for the end of genocide in Darfur. Along with fellow actors like George Clooney and Brad Pitt, Cheadle helped co-found the Not On Our Watch Project, an organization focused on preventing mass atrocities. Cheadle was named U.N. Environment Program Goodwill Ambassador in 2010. Pictured, Cheadle speaks to members of Congress about the genocide, January 2005.
Actress Ashley Judd, a global ambassador for YouthAIDS, actively campaigns for awareness of international poverty. In 2010, Judd traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to raise awareness of how sexual violence is driven by conflict minerals in Congo. Judd has met with several heads of states and political leaders and recently her political involvement and possible run for a U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky has come under fire from conservative super PAC American Crossroads. Pictured, Judd speaks with Indian women while touring to promote AIDS awareness in Mumbai, March 2007.
North Korea has arrested Americans before, only to release them after a visit by a prominent dignitary. Journalists Laura Ling, center, and Euna Lee, to her right, spent 140 days in captivity after being charged with illegal entry to conduct a smear campaign. They were freed in 2009 after a trip by former President Bill Clinton.
Former President Jimmy Carter negotiated the release of Aijalon Gomes, who was detained in 2010 after crossing into North Korea illegally from China. Analysts say high-level visits give Pyongyang a propaganda boost and a way to save face when it releases a prisoner.
Eddie Yong Su Jun was released by North Korea a month after he was detained in April 2011. His alleged crime was not provided to the media. The American delegation that secured his freedom included Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.
Robert Park was released by North Korea in 2010 without any apparent U.S. intervention. The Christian missionary crossed into North Korea from China, carrying a letter asking Kim Jong Il to free political prisoners and resign. North Korea's state-run news agency said Park was released after an "admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings." Here, Park holds a photo of Kim and a malnourished child during a protest in Seoul.
Josh Fattal, center, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd were detained by Iran while hiking near the Iraq-Iran border in July 2009. Iran charged them with illegal entry and espionage. Shourd was released on bail for medical reasons in September 2010; she never returned to face her charges. Bauer and Fattal were convicted in August 2011, but the next month they were released on bail and had their sentences commuted.
An Iranian court threw out a death penalty conviction last year for Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine charged with spying. But he still remains in solitary confinement at Iran's notorious Evin Prison. Hekmati was detained in August 2011 during a visit to see his grandmother; his family and the Obama administration deny accusations that he was spying for the CIA.
Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American scholar, was also detained at Evin Prison, spending months in solitary confinement before Iran released her on bail in August 2007. Esfandiari was visiting her ailing mother in Tehran when she was arrested and charged with harming Iran's national security.
Alan Gross, at right with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, has been in Cuban custody since December 2009, when he was jailed while working as a subcontractor. Cuban authorities say Gross tried to set up illegal Internet connections on the island. Gross says he was just trying to help connect the Jewish community to the Internet. Former President Jimmy Carter and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson have both traveled to Cuba on Gross' behalf, but they were unable to secure his release.
Sixteen Americans were among the dozens arrested in December 2011 when Egypt raided the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations that it said received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a public license. Many of the employees posted bail and left the country after a travel ban was lifted a few months later. Robert Becker, right, chose to stay and stand trial.
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