Hollywood actor George Clooney’s sudden, newfound love for the First Amendment isn’t passing the smell test with many conservatives.
This week, Clooney came out swinging in defense of fellow Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo, who has been under fire for his allegedly antisemitic rants about the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros.
“I support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely,” Clooney told Variety magazine. “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.”
Blackballed actor James Woods, a proud conservative, wasn’t impressed by Clooney’s newfound commitment to free speech. In a social media post, Woods noted that Clooney never once said a word when he was persecuted in Hollywood for his pro-Trump politics:
“We’re not going to ban speech,” Clooney said. “I believe in free speech even when I completely disagree with it.”
I was fired by the Gersh Agency because I openly declared my support of President Trump. Thanks for defending my right to free speech, George. Oh, wait… https://t.co/9KPrqc6eUn
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 3, 2026
“I was fired by the Gersh Agency because I openly declared my support of President Trump. Thanks for defending my right to free speech, George. Oh, wait…,” Woods sarcastically tweeted.
Other conservatives also pounced on Clooney.
“Clooney suddenly discovers the First Amendment the exact moment an ideological comrade faces consequences,” one tweeted. “When conservative actors get purged and dropped by their agencies, the Hollywood cartel goes conveniently deaf and blind.”
“Free speech to the champagne socialist crowd functions strictly as an exclusive country club pass reserved for approved leftists. They demand conformity, yet disguise it as tolerance. Dead on, James,” the conservative critic added in support of Woods.
See more examples below:
They banned free speech during covid and george was all for it…
— JackReacher (@DCjusticeseeker) September 3, 2026
If it weren’t for double standards, Clooney and Co would have no standards at all.
— Larry Behrens 🇺🇸 (@larrybehrens) September 3, 2026
Liberals talk about the importance of free speech when they are directly affected. But when it’s something they disagree with they laugh while you lose your job.
— Lord Commander Franklin (@LCFranklin40k) September 3, 2026
Nobody is infringing on these idiot celebrities’ free speech rights, but it is abundantly clear that the Hollywood left has utter contempt for freedom of speech for ordinary Americans.
— Superhet360 (@superhet360) September 4, 2026
As for Ruffalo, he recently voiced criticism about the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. by attacking the tech company Oracle, whose founder, Larry Ellison, is the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison.
According to Deadline, he shared “a video [on Instagram] of the tech company’s executive vice chair Safra Catz discussing how they made some ‘really profoundly scary technology’ available to the Israeli military amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.”
And then, like many times past, he falsely accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians.
“This is the company that Larry Ellison is using to fund his son David’s Warner Bros acquisition,” he wrote on Instagram. “These ‘really profoundly scary technologies’ will most likely be merged into one of the largest media conglomerates in the world and one day used on you.”
“Look how she revels in what we now have come to see as a genocide, which was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle,” he added.
The post set off a firestorm of criticism from actual Jews, several of whom penned an official statement condemning Ruffalo’s antisemitism. Paramount also slammed Ruffalo, with a spokesperson telling Variety that the company found it troubling “when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute.”
Weeks later, a couple hundred other people are firing back on Ruffalo’s behalf, including figures like Joaquin Phoenix, Hannah Einbinder, and Wallace Shawn, to name a few.
“We are Jewish artists, writers, creative professionals, faith leaders and thinkers who have, in response to the outrageous smear campaign against our respected colleague Mark Ruffalo, a simple message to share with the world: Enough!” they wrote in a public letter, according to Variety.
“Enough with the false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism against those who are brave enough to point out the obvious: that the assault on the Palestinian people and the assault on our liberties at home are deeply interconnected, and there is nothing antisemitic about recognizing that fact,” they added.
Clooney is among those who’ve rushed to the actor’s defense.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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