Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly has been on Netflix for several weeks already, so I don’t know why George Clooney agreed to a Variety cover interview, which was published earlier this week. I guess some late promotion was in order because the movie perhaps wasn’t getting the response they wanted? Unfortunately, this piece came out after we learned that George, Amal and their twins have all become French citizens. Which makes George’s comments about the American media and Donald Trump comes across as out-of-touch. Perhaps George has always been a political dilettante, or maybe this is who has become in recent years – someone who selectively has an axe to grind with Democratic elders but never Republican fascists. Some highlights from Variety:
No more on-screen romances: “If you’re trying to hold on to being a romantic leading man at my age, it gets sad. I don’t want to be pathetic.”
Meeting Paul Newman in the 1990s: “I pulled up and I go, ‘Hey, Mr. Newman,’” Clooney recalls. “And he clearly had no clue who I was. But he was friendly and we started talking. People would drive by going, ‘George!’ ‘Hey, George!’ ‘Hey, man!’ Bit by bit, he figured out that I was well known in some way. And as I started to leave, he goes, ‘Don’t let them keep you inside.’… What he was talking about was fame, and the tendency to surround yourself with managers and PR people who build these walls of security so that you don’t get caught doing something stupid. But what happens is you can divorce yourself from what’s really going on out there. You need people in your life that tell you the truth.”
What’s happened with CBS: When Clooney played Murrow last spring, CBS News was settling a frivolous lawsuit with Trump so that he’d approve the sale of its parent company, Paramount, to Skydance. That enraged Clooney, as did ABC News’ similar settlement with the president over a defamation claim. “If CBS and ABC had challenged those lawsuits and said, ‘Go f–k yourself,’ we wouldn’t be where we are in the country. That’s simply the truth… Bari Weiss is dismantling CBS News as we speak. I’m worried about how we inform ourselves and how we’re going to discern reality without a functioning press.”
Quitting isn’t an option: “It’s a very trying time. It can depress you or make you very angry. But you have to find the most positive way through it. You have to put your head down and keep moving forward because quitting isn’t an option.”
On Donald Trump: “I knew him very well. He used to call me a lot, and he tried to help me get into a hospital once to see a back surgeon. I’d see him out at clubs and at restaurants. He’s a big goofball. Well, he was. That all changed.”
“He’s a big goofball. Well, he was. That all changed” – such mild, soft-focus criticism for his former friend, the demented madman dismantling American institutions and kidnapping people off the street. I guess that answers the question of “where’s George Clooney’s NYT op-ed calling Trump old and sleepy?” Speaking of, Trump mocked Clooney’s French citizenship, and George responded:
George Clooney has lashed out at US president Donald Trump for criticising France’s decision to grant the Hollywood actor and his family French citizenship. Trump, whose administration has backed anti-immigration parties in Europe, wrote on Truth Social that France was welcome to the Ocean’s Eleven star, who is a long-term Democrat supporter, fundraiser and a vocal critic of the president.
“Good News! George and Amal Clooney, two of the worst political prognosticators of all time, have officially become citizens of France which is, sadly, in the midst of a major crime problem because of their absolutely horrendous handling of immigration,” Trump wrote.
“Clooney got more publicity for politics than he did for his very few, and totally mediocre, movies,” the president added. “He wasn’t a movie star at all, he was just an average guy who complained, constantly, about common sense in politics.”
Referring to the US midterm elections on 3 November, Clooney told the Hollywood Reporter in response: “I totally agree with the current president. We have to make America great again. We’ll start in November.”
How witty, how debonair, to simply mimic Trump’s slogan and hope that people somehow understand the irony as you lounge about on your French estate! C’est la vie!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- George Clooney and Amal Clooney attends the BFI London Film Festival; the UK premiere of JAY KELLY on Friday 10 October 2025 at Royal Festival Hall, London. .,Image: 1044592885, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Julie Edwards/Avalon.Red, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards/Avalon
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- Amal Clooney and George Clooney attends ‘Jay Kelly’ UK Premiere during the BFI London Film Festival, at the Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall in London, England. UK. Friday 10th October 2025,Image: 1044706778, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NORESTRICTIONS, Model Release: no, Pictured: LFF- Jay Kelly – UK Premiere, Credit line: James Warren/Bang Showbiz/Avalon
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – NOVEMBER 11: American actor, filmmaker, activist, and humanitarian George Clooney arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix’s ‘Jay Kelly’ held at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on November 11, 2025 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1052019843, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: George Clooney, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – NOVEMBER 11: American actor, filmmaker, activist, and humanitarian George Clooney arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix’s ‘Jay Kelly’ held at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on November 11, 2025 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1052019997, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: George Clooney, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – NOVEMBER 11: American actor, filmmaker, activist, and humanitarian George Clooney arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix’s ‘Jay Kelly’ held at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on November 11, 2025 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1052020346, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: George Clooney, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 11: (L-R) George Clooney and Adam Sandler at the Los Angeles premiere of Netflix’s “Jay Kelly” at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on November 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.,Image: 1052169595, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: (L-R) George Clooney and Adam Sandler, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon
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- Celebrity arrivals for the 63rd New York Film Festival ‘Jay Kelly’ premiere Featuring: Amal Clooney, George Clooney Where: New York, United States When: 29 Sep 2025 Credit: Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com
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- Inside arrivals for the 63rd New York Film Festival – ‘Jay Kelly’ Premiere Featuring: George Clooney and Amal Clooney Where: New York, United States When: 29 Sep 2025 Credit: Darla Khazei/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities attend the Clooney Foundation for Justice’s The Albies at the Natural History Museum in London, England Featuring: Amal Clooney, George Clooney Where: London, United Kingdom When: 03 Oct 2025 Credit: Cover Images
Much like his friend trump Clooney is a buffooon and not worthy of any respect or attention.
That “goofball” was an abusive rapist, a discriminatory slumlord, and a grifter who routinely stiffed anyone who contracted work for him. All all-around bully with a sociopathic pedophile for a BFF. But sure, he tried to get George in to see a specialist so he used to be OK.
THIS 👆
🎯
It’s amazing how quickly money and access can warp your ethics.
“We’ll start in November.” From France?
Right? If he’s a French citizen now, doesn’t that mean he gave up his US citizenship? So he can’t vote anymore, right? Or he can’t vote in the US, only France. Or did he get dual citizenship? Does that mean you get to vote in both countries? Anybody know?
Maybe he can have the double citizenship.
And for rich people laws are always different.
George is dead to me.
Same. And he looks like death warmed over, too.
He has always been horribly misogynistic, a con artist and racist, I don’t know what he’s talking about.
Everything Clooney said is bullshit!!! He surrounds himself with one of the most powerful PR teams in the business. He has a closet full of skeletons he doesn’t want to come out. He really believes his opinion is important in certain circles. GO AWAY GEORGE!!! take your phony self and phony marriage and leave us all in peace.
How did he become friends with Trump? This is not widely known (certainly wasn’t known by me). Is he in the Epstein files?
That question certainly came to mind: Is Clooney in the Epstein files?
Well, exactly! He used to see him out at clubs & restaurants? Both trolling for girls, right? Birds of a feather & all that.
George Clooney needs to shut up. The more he tries to sound deep & knowledgeable he just comes off as such weirdo simpleton.
And he’s aging like eggs!
There’s a question. They were friends enough for him to do Clooney a favor? What did he expect in return?
He can take his French citizenship and his millions from his mid movies and F right off.
Last I checked Biden is still alive and competent. Unlike our Commander in Thief.
This statement by Clooney is the exact reason why we are stuck with the tangerine terror now. Mango was always a racist, treasonous sexist pos. Each step of the way the elite/media normalized him and made him palatable and not enough people/fellow elite questioned why and went along with it. It was just assumed that he would be stopped some step along the way by some media or government entity and it has never happened. He shouldn’t have even had the book in the 80s, let alone the reality show. The judiciary and congressional branches have totally surrendered all their powers of checks and balances. His cronies control the media and social media. The education system has completely failed and we have an electorate without critical thinking skills who have fell down the social media conspiracy rabbitholes. Removal of the truth doctrine, weakening educational standards and allowing venomous conspiracy theorists like Q to thrive unchecked has set the country back generations. The Democrats did not lose the election because of Clooney’s op ed, but wealthy out of touch elites like him are the issue with both parties. They are self serving and have lost touch with the realities of 80% of Americans. Thanks for the Lurch pic, Kaiser. That pic brings me a smile in these troubled times.
OMFG he needs to STOP TALKING. Just stop. I like him even less every time he opens his mouth. And “goofball” is so condescending in this context that it’s offensive.
The big goofball who took out a full page ad to execute 5 innocent Black teens for a crime they didn’t commit, and never walked it back when they were proven innocent. The big goofball who assaulted women and girls. The big goofball who stated outright he was sexually attracted to his own daughter. The goofball slumlord who wouldn’t rent to Black people. What a guy! The goofball who is barred from operating a charity in NYC cause he stole from kids who had cancer. The goofball who harassed a pageant contestant and bullied her over her weight. The goofball who made fun of a reporter’s disability and referred to Mexicans as rapists. The community peen who cheated on wife number one with wife number 2 who had 5 kids by 3 different mamas – always messy, always in the tabloids. Always a complete jerk. That was back then. The guy who stole from contractors and never pays anyone for the work they complete, literally bankrupting people out of business. These facts were very well known.
Also, sorry but the way he talks about being a leading man at his age is ridiculous. You can be a leading man paired with a person your own age. Yes, it would be ridiculous if your romantic interest is a 20 or a 30 or even a 40 something year old cause bro you’re pushing 70, but a person your own age, before he proved himself a terrible person, I’d be interested in that story. I loved Cairo Time, Bridges of Madison County, and Far From Heaven, all beautiful love stories about people who are not that young. Many people find love later in life – he’s ridiculous for dismissing those real experiences.
I’m so over him. I’m trying to be more positive in 2026 but damn it – just say you screwed up and own it. Take responsibility for the damage you’ve done. Stop Susan Surandon-ing it FFS.
Great comment! Thank you for getting into it. Clooney just can’t stop digging or admit that he was wrong. “Goofball,” ffs, after everything we know – then and now. He didn’t change; he just has untold power now to steal, kidnap, starve, harm, destroy.
Clooney pretending it’s all a game while recognizing the seriousness for himself and getting French citizenship is a level of breathtaking arrogance that cements my plan not to support anything he’s in.
Thank you for saying this! And yes you are spot on! The downplaying of this for the general public that IS in grave danger, while ensuring he and his family are out of harm’s way is peak what the fuckery! “breathtaking arrogance” is the perfect description of it. I too am done supporting anything he is in.
Well-done. Goofball is not the word I would use for someone who has shown themselves to be such a rampant racist for SO MANY YEARS.
The good news about Clooney is that the French are pissed at him too. Apparently, he got special treatment in order to get citizenship for his family before they were eligible. The French are asking questions about this entitled, rich American dude throwing his weight around. “You need people in your life that tell you the truth.” George doesn’t seem to have that.
I wonder why he didn’t go for Italian. He’s had property there for more than a decade. Ten years is the time requirement for non eu citizens.
“ I wonder why he didn’t go for Italian. He’s had property there for more than a decade. Ten years is the time requirement for non eu citizens.”
British American former government living in Berlin here. It’s because Italy under PM Meloni is falling hard right along with a lot of Europe. It’s not just America, authoritarianism is rising everywhere. There’s a massive anti immigration movement in Italy along with anti LGBTQ. Meloni campaigned on a lot of far right policies using Mussolini propaganda.
It’s like everyone’s brains are broken. Maybe COVID, maybe climate change driving all the migration from the Global South to Europe and North America. And the response to that is racism and xenophobia. In any case, we are seeing the rise of the “strong man” everywhere. Only in Italy it’s the rise of the “strong woman”. They’re not actually strong, just bullies and demagogues. George will soon run out of countries to flee to at this rate.
All these men with their so-called wealth and influence all turn out to be egoists and cowards when it comes to Trump. Hunter Biden was right about him. Also his last few films have been incredibly mediocre.
Ohhh, they were friends. Of course. And since he’d always recognize Clooney and treat him the way he thought he deserved to be treated, the Democrats were the problem. Even though his wife’s ability to travel to the US is threatened by this garbage, George’s priorities are in order.
George Clooney has never been all that bright.
I remember when he and Amal got married and his mom said something ludicrous like “they get along because she’s his intellectual equal.” And I thought, a well-educated lawyer and human rights worker and it’s meant to be a compliment that…she’s as smart as…him?!
Clearly Clooney has always had people blowing smoke up his you-know-what. As they say, may you always have the confidence of a mediocre white man.
Interesting that he remembers that quote from Paul Newman but isn’t following it. George needs someone in his life to tell him the truth and the truth is he really needs to shut up.
I’m so tired of this ratfucker. If I never heard from this asshole again it would be too soon.
I hope EVERYTHING he is remotely associated with fails miserably.
In these times of rapidly rising fascism, and the dangers it poses to all the people crushed by inequality, what we really need is the opinion of another wildly out of touch wealthy white man – who has never suffered consequences for shooting off his uninformed mouth.
What’s this ‘we’ stuff, George? You’re a French citizen now, you’re going to vote in their elections, right? Not ours? You gave up on the US.
Quitting isn’t an option, says the guy who quit by using his wealth and privilege to leave the US and become a French citizen.
Quelle merde.
Where’s George Clooney’s NYT op-ed calling Trump old and sleepy? Yep, Kaiser’s question here is all I have to say on the matter.
I have great respect for Amal Clooney. She has had some truly spectacular professional successes as a human rights lawyer, including representing Nobel Peace Prize winner and Yazidi activist Nadia Murad, who was a prisoner of ISIS.
I am delighted that the she is now staying in Europe.