George Clooney is in his native habitat.
The Audacity of an Actor Who Can’t Handle His Own Defamation Problems Lecturing Networks About Legal Courage
In what can only be described as a masterclass in Hollywood hypocrisy, George Clooney—yes, that George Clooney, the man who plays dress-up for a living—has decided he’s qualified to lecture CBS and ABC about how to handle defamation lawsuits. Apparently, spending decades memorizing other people’s words and standing in front of cameras has endowed him with expertise in media law, journalistic integrity, and press freedom.
Spoiler alert: It hasn’t.
NewsBusters: Who Can’t Handle the Truth? Clooney Rants Bari Weiss Is ‘Dismantling’ the Bias of CBS News
There’s something hilarious in the lefty Hollywood trade magazine Variety channeling George Clooney attacking CBS News as falling apart and apparently not holding Donald Trump accountable. The leftist press never holds George Clooney and his fellow Hollywood Democrats accountable.
Executive Editor Brent Lang is a typical cozy kitten in this Clooney cover story, channeling his view that Trump’s lawsuits against the media were “frivolous.” Variety is frivolous.
Variety’s headline emphasized Clooney’s “GFY” bravado: “If CBS and ABC had challenged those lawsuits and said, ‘Go fuck yourself,’ we wouldn’t be where we are in the country. That’s simply the truth.”
…
“Bari Weiss is dismantling CBS News as we speak,” Clooney says. “I’m worried about how we inform ourselves and how we’re going to discern reality without a functioning press.”
For her part, Weiss handled Clooney by inviting him in, sending Variety this statement: “Bonjour, Mr. Clooney! Big fan of your work. It sounds like you’d like to learn more about ours. This is an open invitation to visit The CBS Broadcast Center, where I’m spending the holidays working to relaunch the Evening News with my colleagues. Tune in January 5.”
The Man Who Settled Tells Others Not to Settle
Let’s start with the most delicious irony of Clooney’s recent temper tantrum in Variety magazine, where he proclaimed with all the gravitas of someone who once played a doctor on television: “If CBS and ABC had challenged those lawsuits and said, ‘Go fuck yourself,’ we wouldn’t be where we are in the country.”
Bold words from someone whose own organization tucked tail and ran when faced with a defamation lawsuit.
That’s right—the same George Clooney who’s now channeling his inner Rambo about standing up to legal challenges co-founded an investigative organization called The Sentry that settled a defamation lawsuit in late 2022. The organization withdrew an entire report alleging corruption by a Sudanese businessman after proceedings were commenced against them in a Sudanese court.
So when Clooney lectures major news networks about having the backbone to tell litigants to “go fuck yourself,” he’s speaking from the deep well of experience that comes from… doing exactly the opposite. Nothing says “journalistic courage” quite like pulling your entire investigation when someone threatens legal action.
But sure, George. Tell us more about how networks should fight these battles. We’re all ears.
The “Investigative” Organization That Couldn’t Investigate Its Way Out of a Paper Bag
While we’re examining Clooney’s credentials as a media expert, let’s take a closer look at The Sentry’s track record. This is the organization he loves to trumpet as evidence of his commitment to hard-hitting investigative journalism.
According to the Government of South Sudan’s documented response to one of The Sentry’s reports, the organization was found guilty of “confirmation bias” and exhibited “serious methodological flaws.” The response detailed how The Sentry relied on anonymous sources described only as “a South Sudanese civil society activist” and “a South Sudanese journalist” without proper verification, made allegations that were categorically denied with documentary evidence, and failed to set out correct information regarding legal processes.
In other words, Clooney’s investigative outfit did what he now accuses others of doing—sloppy journalism with an agenda.
One businessman documented how The Sentry falsely alleged his connection to the National Security Service and claimed he held shares in companies where official government records proved he was neither a director nor shareholder. The Sentry’s response? They withdrew the report rather than defend it.
This is the investigative pedigree Clooney brings to his analysis of CBS News. A man whose organization couldn’t verify basic corporate registration records is now the arbiter of journalistic standards. Magnificent.
The Biden Hypocrisy: A Month Too Late and a Dollar Short
But wait—there’s more! Clooney wants us to believe he’s all about “holding the powerful to account.” This is his big credential, apparently. He thinks journalists should be fearless truth-tellers who speak truth to power regardless of the consequences.
Except when it’s inconvenient.
Remember when Clooney attended that June 2024 fundraiser where he watched Joe Biden’s cognitive decline up close and personal? You know, the one where he saw the sitting President of the United States struggling with basic mental function? Did Clooney immediately speak out? Did he sound the alarm as a concerned citizen worried about the leader of the free world?
Of course not.
He waited almost a month, until after Biden’s catastrophic debate performance, when the whole world could see what Clooney had witnessed in private. Only then, when it was politically safe, and the damage was already done, did he pen his brave New York Times op-ed calling for Biden to step down.
That’s not courage. That’s opportunism. That’s jumping on a bandwagon after it’s already left the station and pretending you were driving.
And yet this is the man lecturing news organizations about standing up to pressure. The man who saw a president in decline and said nothing until everyone else already knew. The man who only speaks “truth to power” when the truth is already trending on Twitter.
The Edward R. Murrow Delusion: Cosplaying as Courage
Clooney’s latest act of self-important theater is playing Edward R. Murrow on Broadway in “Good Night, and Good Luck.” This gives him the perfect excuse to wrap himself in the mantle of journalistic heroism while understanding precisely nothing about what it actually requires.
Murrow stood up to Joseph McCarthy at real professional and personal risk. Clooney stands on a stage reading lines someone else wrote, then walks off to his French villa (yes, he just became a French citizen—insert eye roll here), believing he’s somehow inherited Murrow’s legacy through the magic of theatrical performance.
The delusion is staggering.
Clooney invoked Murrow’s ideal: “Let’s not confuse dissent with disloyalty.” Beautiful words. But then he turns around and claims that Bari Weiss—a journalist who has actually put her career on the line for her principles—is “dismantling CBS News as we speak” simply because she doesn’t share his political ideology.
So dissent is fine as long as it’s his brand of dissent. When someone challenges the left-wing orthodoxy he prefers, suddenly that’s “dismantling” journalism. The cognitive dissonance would be amusing if it weren’t so predictable.
The Dan Rather Blind Spot: Fake News Is Fine When It’s Your Team
Speaking of CBS’s journalistic legacy, let’s talk about what Clooney considers the “Glory Days” at the network.
Apparently, in Clooney’s worldview, CBS was at its finest when Dan Rather was pushing fraudulent documents about George W. Bush’s National Guard service in 2004. You remember Rathergate, right? When CBS aired a story based on documents that couldn’t be authenticated, that experts immediately identified as likely forgeries created on modern word processing software, that blew up so spectacularly that Rather eventually left the network?
That’s Clooney’s idea of CBS at its best.
Or how about when Rather screamed at Clooney’s own father, Nick Clooney, about Iran-Contra? Or when Steve Kroft and the “60 Minutes” crew cuddled up to the Clintons and Obamas like lapdogs seeking belly rubs?
In Clooney’s galaxy brain, that wasn’t “dismantling CBS News.” That was CBS fulfilling its purpose—advancing the “right side of history,” which coincidentally always seems to align perfectly with Clooney’s political preferences.
But Bari Weiss wanting actual balanced reporting? That’s destroying journalism.
The man’s intellectual consistency is truly something to behold.
The “Functioning Press” According to Clooney: Activism in Journalist’s Clothing
Clooney declared to Variety: “I’m worried about how we inform ourselves and how we’re going to discern reality without a functioning press.”
Let’s unpack what Clooney means by “functioning press,” shall we?
Based on his own statements and actions, a “functioning press” apparently means:
- Uncritically promoting Democratic candidates and causes
- Settling defamation lawsuits when you’re the one being sued (that’s fine)
- But fighting tooth and nail when Republicans sue you (that’s “courage”)
- Covering up or ignoring evidence of cognitive decline in Democratic presidents until it’s politically safe to mention it
- Publishing reports based on anonymous sources and unverified claims (The Sentry)
- Then, withdrawing those reports when challenged (also The Sentry)
- Calling yourself “investigative” while exhibiting confirmation bias (still The Sentry)
This is not journalism. This is activism with a press badge. It’s propaganda with better production values.
A truly functioning press would hold all powerful people accountable—including Democratic presidents showing signs of dementia, including Hollywood activists who run sloppy investigative organizations, including itself.
But that’s not what Clooney wants. He wants a press that “goes Full Jim Acosta all the time”—all performance, all outrage, all directed at approved targets. It’s not about truth. It’s about the pose, the lunge at the Right-Wing Enemy, as NewsBusters perfectly articulated.
The French Exit: Running Away While Lecturing Others to Stay and Fight
And now, the pièce de résistance of Clooney’s hypocrisy: He just became a French citizen.
Read that again. The man lecturing Americans about standing and fighting for press freedom in America has literally obtained foreign citizenship and is splitting his time between a French estate and an Italian villa on Lake Como.
He told Esquire he moved his family out of Hollywood because he was “worried about raising our kids in L.A., in the culture of Hollywood.”
So let’s get this straight: The country isn’t good enough for his kids, but it should be good enough for journalists to sacrifice their careers and their news organizations’ financial stability fighting lawsuits Clooney deems worthy?
He’s worried about “how we inform ourselves” in America while he’s literally leaving America?
The audacity. The sheer, unmitigated audacity.
It’s easy to be brave when you’re shouting from across the Atlantic Ocean. It’s easy to tell others to fight when you’ve already run away. It’s easy to lecture about courage when you have the option to retreat to French citizenship if things get uncomfortable.
Bari Weiss’s Perfect Response: Class Meets Classlessness
To her enormous credit, Bari Weiss handled Clooney’s tantrum with the perfect blend of grace and subtle evisceration: “Bonjour, Mr. Clooney! Big fan of your work. It sounds like you’d like to learn more about ours. This is an open invitation to visit the CBS Broadcast Center, where I’m spending the holidays working to relaunch the Evening News with my colleagues. Tune in January 5.”
Note the “Bonjour”—a delicious little jab at his new French citizenship.
Note the invitation to actually learn about journalism instead of pontificating about it from a theater stage.
Note that she’s spending the holidays working while Clooney is giving interviews to entertainment magazines about his next Ocean’s movie.
This is the difference between people who do the work and people who play characters who do the work.
Weiss pulled a “60 Minutes” segment about El Salvador not because she’s “dismantling” CBS News, but because it wasn’t ready. That’s called editorial judgment. That’s called maintaining standards. That’s called actual journalism.
But Clooney wouldn’t know about that because he’s never actually been a journalist. He’s just played one in a movie.
The Variety Puff Piece: When “Journalism” Becomes Publicity
Speaking of journalistic malpractice, we need to talk about Brent Lang’s absolutely fawning Variety piece on Clooney. Lang’s “reporting” was less interview and more hagiography, less journalism and more press release.
Lang called Clooney’s belated Biden op-ed “classic George” and praised him for being willing to speak out “if something is wrong,” completely ignoring the month-long delay that suggests Clooney only speaks out when it’s politically safe.
Lang failed to mention The Sentry’s defamation settlement—you know, the inconvenient fact that completely undermines Clooney’s entire argument about fighting lawsuits.
Lang promoted Clooney’s comments on X (formerly Twitter) like a publicist, not a journalist.
This is what passes for journalism in Hollywood trade publications—stenography for the stars, uncritical adulation for the approved political tribe, zero accountability or pushback on obvious contradictions.
And Clooney has the nerve to worry about the state of American journalism? The call is coming from inside the house, George.
The Real Story: An Actor Out of His Depth
Here’s what this whole episode really reveals: George Clooney is an actor who has confused playing a journalist with being a journalist, who has mistaken theatrical courage for actual courage, who believes his political activism qualifies him as a media expert.
He runs an investigative organization that settles defamation suits while telling major news networks to fight theirs.
He watched a president decline and said nothing until it was safe while lecturing others about speaking truth to power.
He’s obtaining foreign citizenship while telling Americans how they should fight for their country’s institutions.
He champions the “glory days” of CBS News that included Dan Rather’s fraudulent reporting while claiming Bari Weiss is destroying the network’s credibility.
He defines a “functioning press” as one that shares his political biases and calls any deviation from progressive orthodoxy a threat to democracy.
This is not a serious person offering serious analysis. This is a wealthy, politically-connected celebrity who is used to people nodding along with whatever he says because he’s George Clooney, and he’s deeply upset that Bari Weiss isn’t interested in playing that game.
The Bottom Line: Credentials Matter
If George Clooney wants to be taken seriously as a media critic, he needs to do more than play journalists in movies and on stage. He needs to actually understand how journalism works. He needs to live by the standards he demands of others. He needs to fight the battles he tells others to fight—including defending his own organization’s reporting instead of settling when challenged.
Until then, his lectures about press freedom and journalistic courage are nothing more than another performance—and not a particularly convincing one.
The man who settled his own defamation lawsuit has no business telling others not to settle theirs.
The man who fled to French citizenship has no business telling American institutions to stand and fight.
The man who runs a confirmation-bias operation masquerading as investigative journalism has no business critiquing Bari Weiss’s editorial judgment.
And the man who plays make-believe for a living definitely has no business pretending he understands the complex legal, financial, and ethical calculations that actual news organizations must make in the real world.
George Clooney should stick to what he knows: memorizing lines, hitting his marks, and looking good in a tuxedo.
Leave the media criticism to people who actually understand media.
Or better yet, George—since you’re so concerned about how Americans inform themselves, maybe stay in America instead of hiding behind your French passport while telling everyone else how brave they should be.
The stunning hypocrisy of Hollywood’s elite never ceases to amaze. George Clooney embodies everything wrong with celebrity political activism: no real expertise, no personal accountability, no consistency in his principles, but an abundance of confidence that his fame makes his opinions matter. It doesn’t. And Bari Weiss’s polite but pointed response proves that actual journalists don’t need lectures from actors about how to do their jobs—especially not from actors whose own track record on these issues is laughable at best and hypocritical at worst.