George Clooney: I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee.

OPINION : GUEST ESSAY
THE NEW YORK TIMES: I’m a lifelong Democrat; I make no apologies for that. I’m proud of what my party represents and what it stands for. As part of my participation in the democratic process and in support of my chosen candidate, I have led some of the biggest fund-raisers in my party’s history. Barack Obama in 2012. Hillary Clinton in 2016. Joe Biden in 2020. Last month I co-hosted the single largest fund-raiser supporting any Democratic candidate ever, for President Biden’s re-election. I say all of this only to express how much I believe in this process and how profound I think this moment is.

I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he’s won many of the battles he’s faced.

But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe “big F-ing deal” Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.

Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw. We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign. The George Stephanopoulos interview only reinforced what we saw the week before. As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, who we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question. » | George Clooney | Mr. Clooney is an actor, director and film producer. | Wednesday, July 10, 2024

George Clooney Vows to Keep Up Pressure on Brunei over Gay-sex Death Penalty

THE GUARDIAN: Actor calls for sustained commercial boycott after Brunei puts moratorium on death penalty for gay sex

George Clooney has promised to keep up pressure on Brunei after the oil-rich country’s sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, announced it would not enforce the death penalty for gay sex.

Gay sex remains illegal in Brunei, punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Clooney said the moratorium on executions was a “huge step forward after a giant leap backwards”, but that “the law to stone their citizens is still in place”. He added: “For my family and me, we simply can’t walk away until this draconian law is no longer on the books.” » | Andrew Pulver | Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Steinigung von Schwulen: George Clooney ruft zum Brunei-Boykott auf

Hollywood-Star George Clooney hat wegen der Einführung der Todesstrafe für Homosexuelle in dem südostasiatischen Kleinstaat Brunei zu einem Boykott von Luxushotels im Besitz des herrschenden Sultans Hassan al Bolkiah aufgerufen.

George Clooney Calls for Hotels Boycott over Brunei's LGBT Laws

THE GUARDIAN: Actor targets nine sites owned by kingdom after it announced death penalty for gay sex

George Clooney has called for a boycott of nine luxury hotels, including the Dorchester on Park Lane in London, because of their links to Brunei, which plans to impose death by stoning as a punishment for gay sex and adultery from next week.

“Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone,” the film star and activist wrote in an opinion piece for Deadline.

In a novel form of political activism aimed at the global elite, he called for the public to join him in immediately boycotting the hotels operated by the Dorchester Collection luxury chain: three in the UK, two in the US, two in France and two in Italy. » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Friday, March 29, 2019

George Clooney: Boycott Sultan Of Brunei’s Hotels Over Cruel Anti-Gay Laws

DEADLINE: George Clooney has a long relationship with Deadline, often on matters beyond film and television. In a guest column, he calls for the immediate boycott of the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Hotel Bel-Air and six others to protest the imminent legalization of laws that make it open season on the LGBTQ community in Brunei.

The date April 3rd has held a unique place in our history over the years. Theologians and astronomers will tell you that Christ was crucified on that date. On April 3rd Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan, arguably the greatest postwar intervention in the history of man. The first portable cellphone call was made on April 3rd. Marlon Brando was born on that day.

But this April 3rd will hold its own place in history. On this particular April 3rd the nation of Brunei will begin stoning and whipping to death any of its citizens that are proved to be gay. Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone. » | George Clooney | Thursday, March 28, 2019

On George Clooney’s Hypocrisy

Governor George Clooney? Oscar Winner to Begin Political Career

SUNDAY EXPRESS: George Clooney is set to run for governor of California, following in the footsteps of fellow Hollywood stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan, say friends.

Democrats want the suave actor to succeed incumbent Jerry Brown in the 2018 race and believe he could emulate Republican Reagan by eventually becoming president.

Clooney, 53, who is reportedly planning to marry British barrister Amal Alamuddin this summer, is said to be “fired up” at the prospect of a political career.

He is a huge contributor to the Democratic Party and has funded drone spying missions to investigate Syrian war atrocities. » | Mike Parker | Sunday, June 15, 2014

Debbie Schlussel: Amal Alamuddin: George Clooney’s Anti-Israel Druze Arab Chick

DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL: Over the past few months, actor George Clooney’s been photographed all over the place with Amal Alamuddin, a very anti-Israel Lebanese Arab who worked for the United Nations and represented Wikileaks’ anti-American former chief, Julian Assange. The Lebanese legal book she authored is extremely anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian. Alamuddin, who was Clooney’s date to the Obama White House last month, is not Muslim. She’s Druze, which is an offshoot of Islam. I’m familiar with Ms. Alamuddin (pronounced “Ah-lah-muh-DEEN”) and her family because I met her and them at the wedding of her cousin in the mid-1990s. They are extremely anti-Israel, and I was subjected to their absurd, non-stop anti-Israel questions and comments as the only non-Arab (other than the bride and her family) at a dinner the night before the wedding. » | Debbie Schlussel | Thursday, March 20, 2014

WIKI: Druze »

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

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George Clooney Arrested

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: George Clooney has been arrested and handcuffed during a protest at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington.

Clooney and other protesters, including his father Nick, Virginia congressman Jim Moran, and civil rights leader Ben Jealous, were placed in the back of a US Secret Service van and taken away.

The group of activists had been given three verbal warnings not to cross a police line as they gathered outside the embassy. Others at the prostest included Martin Luther King III. They blame the government of Sudan for attacks that have killed civilians there.

"I’m just trying to raise attention. Let your Congress know, let your president know," said Clooney.

“It’s actually a humiliating thing to be arrested no matter what you do, but i’m [sic] glad to be standing here with my father.” » | Nick Allen, and Jon Swaine in Washington | Friday, March 16, 2012

Related video »

George Clooney Arrested Protesting Outside Sudanese Embassy in Washington DC

George Clooney: 'I Don't Give a S--- ' If People Think I Am Gay
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: George Clooney has addressed rumours about his sexuality, saying he "doesn't give a s---" if people think he is gay.

Clooney, a prominent campaigner for legalising same-sex marriage in the United States, said people would probably continue to speculate even after he is dead, and that he didn't care.

He told gay and lesbian news magazine The Advocate: "I think it’s funny, but the last thing you’ll ever see me do is jump up and down saying 'These are lies!' That would be unfair and unkind to my good friends in the gay community.

"I’m not going to let anyone make it seem like being gay is a bad thing. My private life is private, and I’m very happy in it. Who does it hurt if someone thinks I’m gay? I’ll be long dead and there will still be people who say I was gay. I don’t give a s---." » | Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Friday, March 02, 2012

Verwandt »

My comment:

George Clooney has got a wonderful, healthy attitude to whether people think he's gay or not. Good for him! – © Mark

This comment appears here, too.

Schauspieler sind Gerüchte um sexuelle Orientierung egal

George Clooney: Why I Won't Stand for President
The Hollywood actor explains why he will never stand for President

George Clooney Honoured
Hollywood star George Clooney has been given an award for his humanitarian work around the world.

George Clooney’s Girlfriend Implicated in Sex and Drugs Scandal
THE TELEGRAPH: George Clooney’s Italian girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis has been implicated in a wide-ranging sex and drugs scandal involving businessmen, celebrities and high-class prostitutes.

The Italian press has speculated for months that George Clooney might be about to propose marriage to Elisabetta Canalis. Photo: The Telegraph
Miss Canalis, a former showgirl, is said to have taken cocaine at a nightclub in Milan that is now at the centre of an investigation into an alleged prostitution ring in which rich clients enjoyed the favours of high-class escort girls while taking drugs.

In court documents released in Milan this week, a French escort girl testified that she saw a number of young models and starlets taking cocaine at the clubs, among them Miss Canalis, now aged 31.

“I used cocaine along with other people, among whom was Elisabetta Canalis,” said the French woman, Karima Menad, 26.

Her evidence forms part of a dossier which has been put together by prosecutors on the alleged prostitution ring. The investigation into two Milan nightclubs - 'The Club’ and 'Hollywood’ - resulted in the arrest of five people on Monday and the closing down of the two nightclubs. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Wednesday, July 28, 2010

CITY JOURNALIST DIRECTORY: Karima Menad sees Elisabetta Canalis Snort Cocaine – Girlfriend of George Clooney >>> Rome / Milan, Thursday, July 29, 2010

Bomb Discovered Outside George Clooney's Lake Como Villa
THE TELEGRAPH: An unexploded Second World War bomb has been discovered outside George Clooney's Lake Como villa.

The 500lb explosive was discovered 15 yards underwater in Lake Como just in front of the actor's 30million euro 30-bed mansion, Villa Oleandra.

Bomb squad experts raced to the scene on the shores of the Italian lake in the Lombardy region in the alpine north of the country. >>> | Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Celebrity Klatsch: Paparazzi Force George Clooney to Sell Lake Como Villa

TIMES INLINE: The actor George Clooney is reported to be selling his villa on Lake Como because of harrassment by paparazzi, a move which highlights the growing row over the invasion of celebrities' private lives.

Potential buyers of the Villa Oleandra at Laglio on Lake Como, which Clooney bought in 2002 for a reported $10 million (£6.5 million), include the footballer David Beckham, who is currently playing for AC Milan, and the Russian vodka and banking tycoon Tariko Roustam.

Beckham and his wife Victoria are said to have "fallen in love" with the villa while staying with Clooney last Spring, with the football star later telling team mates it was "quiet and peaceful and not far from Milan". The villa complex includes a botanical garden, tennis courts and an annex.

Corriere della Sera said lawyers from Milan had approached the Swiss property company dealing with the sale on the Beckhams' behalf. However Mr Roustam had raised his offer to €30 million, vowing "The villa will be mine". >>> Richard Owen in Rome | Wednesday, February 24, 2010

What Will Clooney’s Next Move Be? Taking the Shahada?
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: With her good looks and glossy aura, Fatima Bhutto, the bright new star of a revered political dynasty is causing quite a stir in both Hollywood and her own troubled country.

Photo of Fatima Bhutto, George Clooney’s latest flame, courtesy of The Telegraph
Fresh from an ill-fated entanglement with a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, George Clooney, Hollywood’s Armani-suited Renaissance Man-on-call, is reported to have fallen for 26-year-old Fatima Bhutto, the new star of Pakistan’s greatest political dynasty. Across the sub-continent the excitement spread like Valentine’s Weekend wildfire. And why not? George is radical, Fatima is chic. It has to work out this time.

For while George has been the subject of more Random Couple Alerts than almost anyone else in showbusiness, the signs are unmistakable that, at 47, greying, childless and possibly losing his vogue, he is ready to settle down. He has done all the liberal cause-mongering an actor of his stature could reasonably do, and with his hero Obama safely in the White House (“the best candidate there has ever been,” he said), it was time to turn his attention to international affairs.

Nowhere could they be stickier than in Pakistan, where Fatima, niece of the assassinated former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, enjoys a reputation as the smartest and most glamorous of her extended, perma-feuding clan. The pair are said to have met last year at a conference (George goes to them in his capacity as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, Fatima as a journalist) and agreed to keep in touch. When he broke up with shapely waitress Sarah Larson, 30, late last summer, his interest in Fatima apparently began to grow.

“He’s still out there with his usual assortment of Hollywood eye-candy hanging from his arm,” claimed the American magazine which first reported the romance, “but George insists those days could be coming to an end if Fatima wants to take their relationship to the next level and spend some serious time with him in the US.” >>> By William Langley | Sunday, February 15, 2009

YOUTUBE: Fatima Bhutto Speaks


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Clooney Protests

Photo of George Clooney courtesy of Google Images

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN: U.S. film star George Clooney has joined a protest to stop construction of parking lots and a promenade in the northern Italian lakeside town where he owns a villa because he fears his presence is turning the quiet town into a tourist attraction.

Clooney was among some 300 townspeople who signed the petition against the planned construction in the town of Laglio on Lake Como, according to organizers.

"Yes I signed it. Almost every member of the town signed it," Clooney said on Friday.

"My concern is that this village that has stood for hundreds of years would be destroyed simply because I happened to have lived there for the last six years.

"I told my neighbors that I would do what they wanted.

"And it seemed that they didn't want to demolish the harbor where all the local fishermen keep their boats," Clooney said. Clooney’s holiday hideaway drama (more)

Mark Alexander