Hollywood super star george clooney launched into an astonishing attack on former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon during a chat with journalists in the sidelines of the Toronto International Film Festival. Clooney not only had a go at Bannon's work as a screenwriter but also attacked Bannon's media organization Breitbart News. Breitbart had been after Clooney for quite a while due to his personal views.
Clooney goes in hard
During his interaction with journalists yesterday, George Clooney responded to a question about Steve Bannon by referring to his stint in Hollywood and his failed attempt at becoming a screenwriter.
Clooney thundered, “Steve Bannon is a failed f—ing screenwriter, and if you’ve ever read [his] screenplay, it’s unbelievable. Now, if he’d somehow managed miraculously to get that thing produced, he’d still be in Hollywood, still making movies and licking my ass to get me to do one of his stupid-ass screenplays.” However, this is not the first time that Clooney went after Bannon and his adventures with screenwriting.
He also had some choice words for Breitbart News, Bannon's right wing media organization that has never been quite charitable towards him. He said that the organization had been after him for many years and he would, in fact, feel bad about himself a decade down the line if the 'little putzes' did not actually cover him aggressively.
Clooney also suggested that Breitbart's coverage will grow more hostile as US President Donald Trump's troubles mount.
Opposition to Trump
George Clooney's stringent opposition to Donald Trump has probably landed him in the bad books of Breitbart News and by extension that of Bannon, which is why his outburst did not really come as a surprise to many.
However, he spoke a lot more about his background and how the coverage by Breitbart News tried to paint him as someone who had not worked hard to become the global star that he has eventually become. Clooney stated that he is anything but out of touch and recounted the days from his youth when he worked plenty of odd jobs including those of a shoe seller and door to door insurance salesman.
The Clooney statement comes at a particularly delicate time for Steve Bannon though. The former White House Chief strategist is going to appear for an interview for the first time since his White House sacking on 60 Minutes for an interview tomorrow and it is inevitable that he will be asked about his views on Clooney's comments. It might well end up being a profoundly awkward watch.