The songwriter and actor, 84, was waiting to promote his new memoir, My Song, in an early-morning interview with KBAK in Bakersfield, Calif. when he dozed off.
“Hey, good morning Harry!” says anchor Layla Santiago. “Wake up, wake up! This is your wake-up call! OK, I’ll tell you what, he’s meditating. He’s taking a little nap.”
While laughing, Santiago also sang to Belafonte to attempt to rouse him.
Belafonte also recently appeared at the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City.
A Belafonte spokesman has released the following statement: “After weeks of literally hundreds of interviews promoting his HBO documentary, memoir and CD, Mr. Belafonte had an early morning satellite TV tour this past Friday. True to form, there was a technical glitch in the feed to a local station in Bakersfield, CA. His earpiece wasn’t working, so he decided to take the time to mediate before the rest of his Day-O,” said Ken Sunshine, spokesperson for Harry Belafonte. “Mr. Belafonte is 84 years young, but sharper and more awake than most who have been interviewing him. Maybe the world would be a better place if more people took a moment to meditate.”
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