Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Read more
George Clooney has responded to the White House calling his acting a “war crime”, saying it was time for “vigorous debate”, not “infantile name calling”.
Clooney had joined the widespread backlash against Donald Trump for threatening to wipe out a “whole civilisation” in Iran, telling high school students at an event in Italy that “if anyone says he wants to end a civilisation, that’s a war crime”.
Asked by The Independent about Clooney’s remarks, White House communications director Steven Cheung lashed out at the actor saying: “The only person committing war crimes is George Clooney for his awful movies and terrible acting ability.”
The Ocean’s Eleven star has now fired back at the White House. “Families are losing their loved ones. Children have been incinerated. The world’s economy is on a knife-edge. This is a time for vigorous debate at the highest levels. Not for infantile name-calling,” he told Deadline on Thursday.
“I’ll start. A war crime is alleged ‘when there’s intent to physically destroy a nation’, as defined by the Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute. What is the administration’s defence? (Besides calling me a failed actor, which I happily agree with, having starred in Batman and Robin?).”
Clooney: ‘There must be a line of decency, and we must not cross it’ (Getty)
The US and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire to pause a conflict that has destabilised the Middle East and disrupted global energy supplies. However, hostilities have not fully ceased, with violations continuing.
At the event in Cuneo, Italy, Clooney had told students: “You can still support the conservative point of view, but there must be a line of decency, and we must not cross it.”
And the 64-year-old actor also said he was “worried about Nato”. The military alliance “has ensured that Europe, but also the rest of the world, has been safe”, he said.
“Dismantling an institution like this worries me. Aside from many mistakes, I believe the US [with Nato] has also done many extraordinary things that have stood the test of time.”
A vocal Democrat, Clooney has long traded criticisms with the US president in public and offered commentary on the political climate in the country. Trump has previously described the three-time Golden Globe winner as a failed movie star and one of the “worst political prognosticators of all time”.
Trump has described George Clooney as a failed movie star and one of the ‘worst political prognosticators of all time’ (AP)
“Clooney got more publicity for politics than he did for his very few, and totally mediocre, movies,” Trump previously said on Truth Social, while referencing how Clooney had “dumped” Joe Biden by urging the former president to drop out of the 2024 election.
“He wasn’t a movie star at all, he was just an average guy who complained, constantly, about common sense in politics,” he added.
The president has also criticised Clooney for taking French citizenship while describing the European nation as being in the “midst of a major crime problem because of their absolutely horrendous handling of immigration”.
In December, it was reported that Clooney, his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, and their two children had secured French citizenship.
At the time, Clooney responded to Trump, saying that he “totally agrees” with him about one thing. “We have to make America great again. We’ll start in November,” Clooney said in a statement, per Deadline. He was referring to the US midterm elections.