George Clooney is coming to Mark Ruffalo's defense after the 13 Going on 30 star, 58, faced backlash for his criticism of the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
Clooney, 65, was on hand at the Venice Film Festival Wednesday, September 2 — where he was accepting the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award on the festival's opening day — and he was asked about the state of politics in America and the rise of AI, particularly when it comes to Paramount's ongoing attempt to merge with Warner Bros.
That's when the Oscar winner came to the defense of Ruffalo, who was accused by Paramount of "antisemitic tropes" after the Marvel star attacked the deal over its potential consequences for Hollywood, accusing David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, and the Ellison family of being complicit in the ongoing conflict in Palestine.
"I support Mark Ruffalo's ability to speak freely," Clooney told Variety when asked about the controversy. "It's ridiculous. We're not going to ban speech. I believe in free speech even when I completely disagree with it. That's important. In fact, it's part of how democracy works."
"There're gonna be people tonight in the room that are gonna disagree with most everything I say or stand for. Fair enough, that's how it's supposed to be," he continued. "We're supposed to argue these things out and come to a conclusion based on the information we take in. So I will always support Mark Ruffalo's ability to speak freely. I like him; he's a good man."
#mark #going
Clooney, 65, was on hand at the Venice Film Festival Wednesday, September 2 — where he was accepting the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award on the festival's opening day — and he was asked about the state of politics in America and the rise of AI, particularly when it comes to Paramount's ongoing attempt to merge with Warner Bros.
That's when the Oscar winner came to the defense of Ruffalo, who was accused by Paramount of "antisemitic tropes" after the Marvel star attacked the deal over its potential consequences for Hollywood, accusing David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, and the Ellison family of being complicit in the ongoing conflict in Palestine.
"I support Mark Ruffalo's ability to speak freely," Clooney told Variety when asked about the controversy. "It's ridiculous. We're not going to ban speech. I believe in free speech even when I completely disagree with it. That's important. In fact, it's part of how democracy works."
"There're gonna be people tonight in the room that are gonna disagree with most everything I say or stand for. Fair enough, that's how it's supposed to be," he continued. "We're supposed to argue these things out and come to a conclusion based on the information we take in. So I will always support Mark Ruffalo's ability to speak freely. I like him; he's a good man."
#mark #going
2 months ago
