George Clooney is speaking out in defense of Jimmy Kimmel after President Donald Trump tried to pressure ABC to fire the late-night host. The president on Monday referenced a joke about first lady Melania Trump having the glow of a “pregnant widow” and slammed Kimmel’s “despicable calls for violence.” This comment was made during a skit on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The program aired two days before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but was ultimately canceled after a gunman entered the building.
Clooney compared the backlash to another pre-dinner comment taken out of context online, one made by White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt.
“Jimmy is a comedian. I would argue that he didn’t mean that Caroline Leavitt should shoot,” Clooney said Monday night at the 51st Chaplin Awards ceremony, where he was honored for his contributions to film. “She was joking, which makes sense. If you look on that side, you’re like, ‘Well, a joke is a joke.'” But that expression is a little dangerous. And I’ve been seeing it a lot lately. ”
“There’s going to be shots fired in the room tonight,” Leavitt told Fox News on the red carpet before heading to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, presumably referring to a joke written for the reception. Clooney says this kind of hyperbolic rhetoric “can be toned down.”
“When one party calls someone a traitor if they don’t agree with them, it’s a death sentence just for not agreeing with someone, and I think that rhetoric is getting a little too heated,” Clooney said.
The Chaplin Awards Gala has previously honored Hollywood luminaries who have spoken out about current political events, including Pedro Almodovar, Spike Lee and Robert Redford. Clooney, the son of a journalist, has frequently advocated for press freedom. One of the actor’s recent projects is the stage adaptation of the 2005 film Good Night and Good Luck, which chronicles Edward R. Murrow’s televised murder of Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the height of the Red Scares.
“My father’s rule when we were growing up was to challenge people with more power,” Clooney said. “That’s always been our belief. That’s what my sister and I believed, and my mom and dad. It’s been good for us. It’s gotten us into trouble, and that’s a good thing.”
Gala presenters that night included Stephen Colbert, who made his Late Show debut as Clooney’s first guest in 2015, as well as co-stars from various points in his career, including Julianna Margulies (“ER”), Sam Rockwell (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”) and John Turturro (“Where Are You, Brother?”).
“I always believe in the press. I always believe in it. I’m the son of a journalist, you know?” Clooney concluded. “I also don’t think you should have a good relationship with the government. You should question the government. The people I support, the Democratic Party. So I’m a Democrat. I don’t apologize for that. The people I support, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, were hounded by reporters. People in power don’t like having to answer all the questions in the world. That’s fair. They shouldn’t have fun with it.” That’s the rule that Jefferson said in 1787. We need free and fair reporting. ”
