Trump calls Clooney a "second-rate actor" after he defends press freedom

George Clooney is making his debut. The actor will debut on April 3 on Broadway, the Mecca of theater, in the stage version of Good night and good luck, the 2005 film he starred in, wrote, and directed, which earned him two Oscar nominations. Clooney plays veteran CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, who had a historic televised confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy to combat the fear and misinformation he spread with his witch hunts. This time, the promotion of the play has pitted the actor against the current President of the United States, Donald Trump.

In an interview on the program 60 minutesClooney defends journalism as the fourth power "when the other three powers—the judiciary, the executive, and the legislative—fail." In fact, his father was a journalist. "Governments don't like freedom of the press. They never have. And that goes for conservatives as well as progressives, on whatever side they're on. They don't like the press," says Clooney. The statements have not pleased Trump, who is in a fight against several media outlets, such as CBS itself (for an interview he conducted with Kamala Harris before the elections). On his social network, Truth Social, he criticizes him squarely: "Why would a discredited program like 60 minutes must make a reportage about George Clooney, a star "of second-rate cinema and a failed political expert?"

Both Clooney and his wife, Amal Clooney, have championed progressive values and have always been close to the Democratic Party. They have called for votes for Obama and Clinton, and during the last election campaign, Clooney asked President Joe Biden to drop out of the reelection race in favor of Kamala Harris. In fact, Trump reproached him for "dispatching him like a dog" after the debate and "on orders from the Obama team, completely throwing himself behind Kamala." Clooney himself seems to respond to the interview with a barb: "Well, I don't know, what was I supposed to do? Storm the damn Capitol?"

Over the years, Clooney has been a thorn in the side of Trump. In May 2016 in Cannes He already argued that he could not win: "Trump will not be the president of the United States, because fear will not rule our country." In an interview with Guardian He called him a "racist xenophobe."

Enough romantic comedies

In the interview, Clooney also dropped a few other gems. For example, that he won't be making any more romantic films: "Look, I'm 63 years old. I'm not trying to compete with 25-year-old leading men. It's not my job. I don't make romantic movies anymore." The last one was Ticket to paradise, with Julia Roberts in 2022, and grossed $168 million. The actor acknowledges that in 2000, when he was considered "the sexiest man in the world," he experienced his peak professional moment, "a great moment," he admits.

Prices to see Clooney live at the theater in New York range from €270 to €740 per ticket.