Leonardo DiCaprio called 'hypocrite' for flying 8,000 miles to get his environmental award

Hollywood megastar Leonardo DiCaprio has been accused of hypocrisy after he was said to have flown 8,000 miles from Cannes to New York to pick up an environmental award on 20 May, only to fly back to France the next day. The 40-year-old has been lauded for his green credentials with his Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation dedicated to saving the environment.

In July 2015, the Oscar winner's foundation donated $15m (£10.3m) to environmental causes at World Economic Forum and during his speech he urged the globe to not to "take the world for granted".

But his has drawn criticism from some quarters this week for increasing his carbon footprint by 8,000 miles to accept an award at the prestigious Riverkeeper Fishermen's Ball. The Aviator actor was said to have flown by private jet from the Cannes Film Festival to the bash at Chelsea Piers, Manhattan, where he accepted the Big Fish award in the company of clothes designer Ralph Lauren and fellow Hollywood A-lister Robert De Niro.

The very next day he is said to have boarded another jet to head back to France to attend amfAR's glitzy Cinema Against AIDS fundraiser. The gala raised $25m,including $500,000 for a stay at DiCaprio's Palm Springs home.

During his acceptance at the Riverkeeper event, which raised $1.6m, he told the room according to Ecowatch: "We know that ignorance, greed and political malfeasance stand in the way of our simple vision of achieving the basic right of access to clean water for every living being on our shared planet."

Environmental analyst Robert Rapier told the New York Post that the actor's movie-star lifestyle "diminishes his moral authority to lecture others on reducing their own carbon emissions". He said that: "[DiCaprio] demonstrates exactly why our consumption of fossil fuels continues to grow.

"It's because everyone loves the combination of cost and convenience they offer. Alternatives usually require sacrifice of one form or another."

The newspaper quoted a source close to DiCaprio who said he had: "Hitched a ride with someone already flying back [and] to Cannes. Hitching a ride was the only way he could make it in time for both events."