Donald Trump attacked George Clooney on his social media platform, Truth Social, criticizing a 60 Minutes interview in which Clooney discussed challenges faced by reporters and linked them to actions by the Trump administration. Trump called Clooney a 'second-rate movie star' and a 'failed political pundit'.
Clooney's comments on 60 Minutes alluded to the Trump administration's efforts to suppress press freedom, referencing Trump's significant lawsuits against CBS and ABC. He highlighted Trump's $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and the $15 million settlement with ABC over comments about Trump made on one of its shows. Clooney stated that he feels pressure is being used by the government to influence journalism.
Following escalating pressure on CBS, Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, resigned, citing a loss of journalistic independence due to the interference.
In the 60 Minutes episode, Clooney drew a through line between the play and the film and the challenges faced by reporters today – comments that clearly did not go down well.
In response, the US president made a pointed dig at Clooney on Truth Social, the Trump-owned social media platform.
“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,” Trump said. “… And now George Clooney again? His press agent should be making a fortune!”
Clooney’s allusions to the Trump administration clamping down on press freedom came a week before Good Night, and Good Luck premiered on Broadway on April 3.
Well versed in the subject, Clooney majored in journalism at university, and his father, Nick, was a broadcast journalist for many years.
In the 60 Minutes piece, Clooney noted Trump’s $US10 billion ($15 billion) lawsuit – a claim he doubled to $US20 billion after returning to office earlier this year. Trump is suing CBS over an October 60 Minutes episode featuring then-US vice president Kamala Harris, and claimed they edited an interview to present her in a more flattering light, which he argued was a form of voter interference ahead of the US election.
Clooney also pointed to Trump’s December settlement with the US ABC network over comments about him made on one of its shows.
ABC agreed to pay $US15 million towards Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air claim that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
“ABC has just settled a lawsuit with the Trump administration. And CBS News is in the process,” Clooney said. “We’re seeing this idea of using government to scare or fine or use corporations – to make journalists smaller.”
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As part of his action, Trump demanded a transcript of the raw interview, which was then released by the network once Trump regained office. He has called repeatedly for the broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, to punish CBS.
Following escalating pressure on the network, Bill Owens, executive producer of 60 Minutes, resigned on Wednesday (local time), claiming a loss of journalistic independence.
He said he “would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it” nor allowed to make “independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes”, CNN reported, citing Owens’ memo to staff.
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