George Clooney Accepts Lifetime Achievement Award in Venice, Warns Against Politics of Fear

Actor George Clooney used his acceptance speech for the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday to warn against political leaders who, he said, are “telling us to fear one another.”

Clooney did not name any specific public figures during the remarks. “We’re living through a moment in time where the people in charge and people with the most money are telling us to fear one another,” he said. “But we know better than that, don’t we? Because history does teach us a lesson.”

He went on to argue that authoritarian figures typically target artists and journalists before politicians. “The first people that authoritarians try to shut down are not politicians. 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 said.

The actor acknowledged that films cannot solve the world’s problems on their own, but said they still serve a purpose. “Movies don’t stop wars, they don’t lower inflation, they don’t fix elections. But they do do something remarkable. They remind us that a stranger is never stranger, and that he might just be the hero in somebody else’s story. And if we can still sit together in the dark and care about people we’ve never met, I think we’ll be okay,” he said.

“Stories are always dangerous to people who peddle in fear. The people who are afraid of books and music and stories are never the heroes in history.”

Comments on Ruffalo controversy

Before the ceremony, Clooney held a press conference where he addressed a separate controversy involving actor Mark Ruffalo, who had faced accusations of antisemitism after saying that Paramount executives David and Larry Ellison are “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world.”

“I support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely,” Clooney said. “I don’t see how the merger financially ends up making sense for the people who are trying to do it. We’ll see.”

Clooney also commented on the current political climate in the United States, describing it as a “kakistocracy” but expressing confidence that the situation would change. “I think maybe we have a kakistocracy right now, but we’ll get through it,” he said. “We will have an election in November that should be a check and balance. And then in 2028, we will have a restoration of some normalcy.”