George Clooney defended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel this week after Donald Trump demanded ABC fire the comedian over a recent monologue joke. Speaking at the 51st Chaplin Award Gala, where he was honored for his contributions to cinema, Clooney argued his stance.
George Clooney comes to Jimmy Kimmel’s defense after Donald Trump’s recent post
It all began when Trump condemned Kimmel on Truth Social, calling a skit that referenced Melania Trump a “despicable call to violence.” The joke, which described the first lady as having the glow of an “expectant widow,” aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live! two days before the White House Correspondents Dinner shooting. The annual event was subsequently canceled after Cole Thomas Allen breached the venue.
Clooney addressed the backlash by comparing Kimmel’s joke to a remark made by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Before entering the correspondents’ dinner, Leavitt told Fox News there would be “some shots fired tonight in the room.”
“Jimmy’s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn’t mean shots should be fired,” Clooney said. “She was making a joke. Fair enough. You look at that side and go, ‘Well, jokes are jokes.’ But the rhetoric is a little dangerous. And we’ve seen it a lot lately.”
George Clooney didn’t stop at defending punchlines. He widened his argument to address what he sees as a dangerously heated political climate. The actor pointed to language that labels opponents as traitors, a term that carries a death penalty charge, as proof that the conversation needs to cool off. “When one side is calling anyone they disagree with traitors to the country, which is a charge that’s punishable by death, just because they don’t agree with someone, I think the rhetoric is a little too heated,” Clooney stated (via Variety).
The defense of Jimmy Kimmel aligns with Clooney’s long-standing advocacy for a free press.
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