It's a relief to read this. I was beginning to think worshiping the cult of celebrity had become a blood sport.
Boyden is a talented writer but I have a rather large bone to pick with him regarding things he said in his interview with Jian Ghomeshi after the opening of the Asper's Museum of Human Rights. Boyden refused to take the side of First Nations activists who were concerned about the museum's lack of acknowledgement of the various genocides inflicted upon Canada's First Nations by European settlers. My impression of Boyden at that moment was that he seemed more reluctant to offend the (very white) Canadian Establishment than offend his FN brothers and sisters. That moment was an opportunity for him to use his celebrity to stand in solidarity with his people. Apparently he did.