George Clooney says ABC, CBS should have told Trump to ‘go f--- yourself’
Actor and outspoken liberal George Clooney slammed ABC and CBS for settling lawsuits with President Donald Trump, suggesting the networks should have instead said, "Go f--- yourself."
CBS and ABC have shelled at least $16 million apiece to settle lawsuits brought by Trump. But Clooney, who has been living in France after uprooting his family to get away from the culture of Hollywood, is bothered the networks didn’t fight back.
"If CBS and ABC had challenged those lawsuits and said, ‘Go f--- yourself,’ we wouldn’t be where we are in the country," Clooney told Variety.
GEORGE CLOONEY DITCHES HOLLYWOOD CULTURE FOR FRANCE, GAINS CITIZENSHIP WITH WIFE AND TWINS
"It’s a very trying time," Clooney continued. "It can depress you or make you very angry. But you have to find the most positive way through it. You have to put your head down and keep moving forward because quitting isn’t an option."
Paramount Global and CBS agreed in July to pay a $16 million upfront sum to settle the president’s lawsuit against the network over how "60 Minutes" edited and released an interview with then-Democratic rival Kamala Harris in 2024. Trump’s team, which initially sought $10 billion, claimed the network’s use of edited clips from a single response about Israel constituted "election interference." Trump's legal team championed the settlement as a win for media accountability and the American people.
The same month as the settlement, the Trump administration's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved an $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media, putting David Ellison in charge of the newly formed company.
Ellison then handpicked Bari Weiss to takeover CBS News, but Clooney isn’t a fan.
"Bari Weiss is dismantling CBS News as we speak," Clooney told Variety. "I’m worried about how we inform ourselves and how we’re going to discern reality without a functioning press."
Trump’s win over CBS came on the heels of ABC's apology and $16 million settlement with Trump last December after he sued for defamation over "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos' claims on the air that the president had been held "liable for rape." The jury in the E. Jean Carroll case to which he was referring had actually ruled he was liable for "sexual abuse."
ABC and CBS did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
During the lengthy Variety interview, Clooney also explained that he once had a friendly relationship with Trump.
"I knew him very well," Clooney said.
"He used to call me a lot, and he tried to help me get into a hospital once to see a back surgeon. I’d see him out at clubs and at restaurants," he continued. "He’s a big goofball. Well, he was. That all changed."
Clooney has long been outspoken when it comes to politics and famously penned a New York Times essay calling for former President Joe Biden to step down as the Democratic candidate in the 2024 presidential election following his disastrous debate performance against Trump.
Clooney, along with his wife Amal Alamuddin Clooney, were recently granted French citizenship.
Fox News Digital’s David Rutz and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.