George Clooney has defended comedian Jimmy Kimmel as President Donald Trump called for him to be fired after an ill-timed joke.
Clooney, 64, used his platform while being honoured at the Chaplin Award Gala to denounce the president’s take.
Kimmel had made a joke on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live! that Trump’s wife Melania had the glow of an “expectant widow.” He was not to know that two days later, at the White House Correspondents Dinner, a live shooter would enter the building and fire off shots.
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Trump called on the ABC, the network that hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live!, to fire the comedian, calling the joke a “despicable call to violence”.
During his speech at the awards, Clooney compared Trump’s backlash towards the joke to one made by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt prior to the dinner.
While on the red carpet entering the dinner, she had told Fox News “there will be some shots fired tonight in the room,” referring to the jokes written about politicians, as is customary for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
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“Jimmy’s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn’t mean shots should be fired,” Clooney said, as per Variety.
“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.
“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.”
The Ocean’s Eleven star was honoured with the Chaplin Award, which recognises Hollywood figures who are outspoken about current political events.
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He attended the event with his wife, Amal Clooney, who stood out in a stunning purple silk minidress. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, emphasising her off-the-shoulder number.
Clooney’s friends, including Stephen Colbert, jazz vocalist Georgia Heers, actress Julianna Margulies, and more, supported him on the night.
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Kimmel’s remarks come seven months after he was forced off-air when he was suspended by the ABC and the Walt Disney Company following criticism from the Trump administration and their conservative supporters, after he gave a monologue about their reaction to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
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