For Americans exhausted by Hollywood stars turning awards ceremonies into political forums, the performance probably felt familiar.
Clooney Warns About the Powerful
Clooney argued that ordinary people are being deliberately pushed against one another by those at the top of society.
“The people in charge and people with the most money are telling us to fear one another.”
It was an interesting message coming from one of the world’s wealthiest and most internationally connected actors.
Clooney has spent decades enjoying a lifestyle most Americans could scarcely imagine, including extensive time in Europe and ownership of a famous villa on Italy’s Lake Como.
He and his wife, Amal, also recently became French citizens.
Yet there he was in Venice warning about the influence of money and power.
Clooney then presented artists and journalists as important barriers against authoritarian government.
“The first people that authoritarians try to shut down are not politicians,” he said. “They’re journalists who ask questions, they’re the artists who refuse simple answers, the filmmakers, writers, actors and musicians who insist that someone you never met is deserving of your empathy.”
Clooney did not need to say President Donald Trump’s name for the political undertone to be obvious.
It was another example of a ritual Americans have watched repeatedly over the past decade: a Hollywood celebrity takes the microphone at an entertainment event and transforms the occasion into a commentary on the country’s politics.
Clooney Talks About America’s Political Future
The political commentary was not confined to his acceptance speech.
During a press conference, Clooney reportedly invoked the concept of a “kakistocracy” — government controlled by the least suitable people — while discussing America’s political environment.
He also predicted “a restoration of some normalcy” by 2028.
Clooney additionally weighed in on Mark Ruffalo’s right to criticize powerful figures in the entertainment industry.
Ruffalo had attacked Paramount executives David and Larry Ellison, accusing them of “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world.”
Clooney responded simply:
“I support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely.”
Free speech is certainly worth defending.
But Americans might reasonably wonder when Hollywood’s biggest political activists will extend the same generosity toward people whose opinions fall well outside their own ideological circles.
Americans Have Heard This Before
Political speeches from entertainment celebrities are hardly new.
Meryl Streep famously used her 2017 Golden Globes appearance to deliver a speech widely understood as an attack on Trump.
Robert De Niro has repeatedly used awards-show appearances to blast the president.
More recently, Billie Eilish told Grammy viewers that “no one is illegal on stolen land.”
The venues change.
The celebrities change.
The message rarely does.
Clooney has also been politically active far beyond awards-show speeches.
He became a major Democratic fundraiser and was one of Barack Obama’s most prominent celebrity supporters.
He later helped raise money for Joe Biden before publicly calling for Biden to leave the 2024 presidential race.
And his hostility toward Trump stretches back years.
Clooney called Trump a “xenophobic fascist” during the 2016 campaign.
Trump, unsurprisingly, has returned fire.
On New Year’s Eve, Trump mocked Clooney as one of “the worst political prognosticators of all time” while also criticizing conditions in France and its immigration policies.
Clooney responded:
“We have to make America great again. We’ll start in November.”
The exchange illustrated a divide that has become increasingly difficult for Hollywood to ignore.
Many celebrities believe their enormous platforms give them a responsibility to speak about politics.
Millions of Americans see something very different: extraordinarily wealthy entertainers lecturing working families about how they should understand their own country.
Clooney’s Message About Empathy
One of Clooney’s central themes in Venice was empathy.
He argued that movies and storytelling can help audiences understand people whose lives are radically different from their own, saying they “remind us that a stranger is never stranger.”
That is a compelling argument for art.
The problem arises when calls for empathy appear to disappear the moment politics enters the conversation.
Clooney also declared that people who fear books, music, and stories are never remembered as history’s heroes.
Again, few Americans would disagree with the importance of artistic freedom.
But framing today’s political divide as a struggle between enlightened artists and people supposedly afraid of ideas risks reinforcing exactly the division Clooney says he opposes.
If Hollywood genuinely wants Americans to listen, treating political opponents as potential members of the audience rather than moral inferiors might be a good place to begin.
Hollywood’s Political Megaphone Isn’t What It Used to Be
There are signs that at least some actors have recognized the limitations of celebrity political advocacy.
Jennifer Lawrence, who previously became outspoken about Trump and national politics, has more recently suggested that celebrities expressing political opinions may accomplish little beyond adding more noise.
That lesson could prove important for an entertainment industry increasingly disconnected from large portions of the American public.
A movie star can command a microphone.
He cannot command an audience to agree.
And no amount of applause inside a European film festival can change that distinction.
Clooney left Venice with another major honor recognizing his long Hollywood career.
But by turning the occasion toward American politics, he also revived a question the entertainment industry has struggled with for years:
How many Americans still want political guidance from celebrities in the first place?
Clooney is free to criticize Trump, defend Ruffalo, warn about authoritarianism, and argue that America needs political change.
Americans are equally free to roll their eyes, change the channel, and decide that an awards ceremony is the last place they want another political lecture.
Hollywood may still have the stage.
That doesn’t mean it still has the audience.
