Donald Trump won’t be inviting George Clooney to the Kennedy Center anytime soon. After the Clooney criticized President Trump while promoting his new Broadway play, Good Night and Good Luck, Trump fired back calling the actor a “second rate movie ‘star’” on Truth Social.
On Sunday, Clooney appeared on CBS 60 Minutes to promote Good Night and Good Luck, the stage adaptation of his 2006 film of the same name. Clooney makes his Broadway debut in the play as veteran CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, who made waves in the 1950s for taking on Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare. In the interview, Clooney drew parallels between Murrow’s battle with McCarthy and the current battle between the government and the free press, calling it “a fight for the ages.”
Clooney pointed to journalistic institutions such as the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, whose editorial staff are currently embroiled in public disputes with their billionaire owners Jeff Bezos and Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. “ABC has just settled a lawsuit with the Trump administration,” said Clooney referencing Trump’s recently settled $16 million defamation suit against the network. “And CBS News is in the process. We’re seeing this idea of using government to scare or fine or use corporations – to make journalists smaller… When the other three estates fail, when the judiciary and the executive and the legislative branches fail us, the fourth estate has to succeed.”
“Governments don’t like the freedom of the press,” added Clooney. “They never have. And that goes for whether you are a conservative or a liberal or whatever side you’re on. They don’t like the press,”
Trump must have had his eyes glued on CBS last evening, as he quickly hopped on Truth Social to bash Clooney. “Why would the now highly discredited 60 Minutes be doing a total ‘puff piece’ on George Clooney, a second-rate movie ‘star’ and failed political pundit,” he wrote. Trump went on to reference the op-ed Clooney wrote in July of 2024 imploring Joe Biden to step down ahead of the 2024 election. “He fought hard for Sleepy Joe’s election, and then, right after the Debate, dumped him like a dog,” wrote Trump. “Later, I assume under orders from the Obama camp, pushed all out for ‘Kamala,’ only to soon realize that this was not going to work out too well.”
Trump then aimed his ire at 60 Minutes: “60 Minutes even fraudulently inserted Fake answers into her disastrous interview, aired just before Election Day, in one of the most embarrassing and dishonest events in broadcast history … And now George Clooney again? His press agent should be making a fortune!!!”
This is not the first time Trump has criticized Clooney. After Clooney’s op-ed, Trump called him a “fake movie actor” who “never came close to making a great movie.” Clearly, Trump missed Michael Clayton, The Descendants, and Good Night and Good Luck, but luckily he’ll have the chance to see the stage version of the latter if he happens to swing by New York City in the next few months while looking for programming for the Kennedy Center.
More Great Stories From Vanity Fair
-
Gwyneth Paltrow on Fame, Raw Milk, and Why Sex Doesn’t Always Sell
-
Sam Nivola on That “F–king Insane” Lochlan-Saxon White Lotus Scene
-
What the New JFK Files Reveal About the CIA’s Secret
-
Silicon Valley’s Newfound God Complex
-
How Karen Read’s Documentary Plans Backfired
-
The Alexander Brothers Built an Empire. Their Accusers Say the Foundation Was Sexual Violence.
-
Jeffrey Epstein’s Redaction Case is “All Hands on Deck”
-
White Lotus Star Aimee Lou Wood’s Teeth Aren’t Just Charming—They’re Inspiring
-
The Democrat’s Rising Star Elissa Slotkin Is Fighting Trump Tooth and Nail
-
Meet Elon Musk’s 14 Children and Their Mothers (Whom We Know of)
-
From the Archive: Karen Read’s Fight
The post Donald Trump Calls George Clooney a “Second Rate Movie Star” appeared first on Vanity Fair.
