George Clooney sparked fury online after he defended Jimmy Kimmel over his quip about First Lady Melania Trump looking like an \u201cexpectant widow\u201d \u2013 which aired just two days before the\u00a0White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner shooting, the third attempt on President Trump\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
The staunch Democrat, 64, irked scores on the internet when he said \u201cjokes are jokes\u201d Monday night after being asked about Kimmel\u2019s wisecrack.<\/p>\n
\u201cJimmy\u2019s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn\u2019t mean shots should be fired,\u201d Clooney said Monday at the 51st Chaplin Award Gala, as reported by Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n George Clooney holding his wife Amal\u2019s hand as they attend the 51st Chaplin Award Gala in New York Monday. Getty Images for FLC<\/p>\n \u201cShe was making a joke. Fair enough. You look at that side and go, \u2019Well, jokes are jokes.\u2019 But the rhetoric is a little dangerous. And we\u2019ve seen it a lot lately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump critic Clooney said there\u2019s \u201cno place\u201d for the violence that unfolded at the Washington gala before adding, \u201cNor is there a room for this kind of violence in Minnesota with Alex Pretti or Ren\u00e9e Good.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics wasted no time in bringing up the fraud allegations embroiling the Southern Poverty Law Center<\/a> to attack Clooney.<\/p>\n Clooney and his wife Amal, 48, donated $1 million to the nonprofit<\/a> through their foundation The Clooney Foundation for Justice in August 2017 \u2014 10 days after the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.<\/p>\n \u201cIs he deranged or just dumb,\u201d one critic scoffed.<\/p>\n \u201cGeorge Clooney is irrelevant. He\u2019s a grumpy, old man,\u201d another said, blasting the \u201cOcean\u2019s Eleven\u201d star.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was never very bright and has no wisdom to pass on to younger generations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica can sleep easy tonight knowing George Clooney has weighed in,\u201d a third X user mocked.<\/p>\n Clooney\u2019s latest intervention proved to be the final straw for some.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTime to cancel George Clooney. Forever!\u201d an X user wrote<\/a>. \u201cI will never watch another one of his films.\u201d<\/p>\n Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s White House Correspondents Dinner skit where he called Melania Trump an \u201cexpectant widow.\u201d Jimmy Kimmel Live \/ YouTube<\/p>\n President Trump and the First Lady have led calls for Kimmel to be fired over the joke he made in his skit mocking the White House Correspondents Dinner.<\/p>\n \u201cOur first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,\u201d Kimmel said.<\/p>\n Kimmel defended the quip \u2013 saying his performance was \u201ca pretend roast\u201d far removed from the purported assassination attempt against President Trump.<\/p>\n He insisted that the joke was \u201cabout [Melania\u2019s] age difference and the look of joy we see on her face\u201d whenever she and Trump are together.<\/p>\n Melania slammed Kimmel, claiming his \u2018hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country.\u2019 X<\/p>\n Mentalist Oz Pearlman, who enterained President Trump and the First Lady at the gala, canceled his appearance on Kimmel\u2019s show. Pool<\/p>\n The Trumps did not find Kimmel\u2019s joke to be humorous \u2013 with Melania claiming the comic\u2019s<\/a> \u201chateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis monologue about my family isn\u2019t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,\u201d she wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople like Kimmel shouldn\u2019t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u201cIt is time for ABC to take a stand.\u00a0How many times will ABC\u2019s leadership enable Kimmel\u2019s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also demanded that ABC, which airs Kimmel\u2019s show, immediately can the comedian<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cJimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,\u201d the president wrote in a post on Truth Social<\/a>, echoing a call made by the first lady.<\/p>\n