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Accepting the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival, 65-year-old George Clooney delivered a powerful and deeply moving speech. The Hollywood star received a standing ovation for his call for humanity and his passionate defense of cinema as a force capable of bringing people together.

“No one laughs in a different language. No one cries in a different language. Parents worry in the same way, children dream in the same way,” the actor said. “Love looks remarkably similar… And that should make us question whether we are really as different as we are constantly told we are.”

Clooney openly spoke out against those who exploit social divisions for their own gain.

“We live in a time when people in power, people with a lot of money, are telling us to be afraid of one another. But we’re smarter than that, aren’t we? History teaches us. The first people authoritarians try to silence are not politicians. They are journalists who ask questions. They are artists who refuse to give easy answers — filmmakers, writers, actors and musicians who insist that someone you don’t know deserves our empathy.”

But even before stepping onto the red carpet, Clooney sparked a political firestorm at a press conference, launching a scathing attack on the current US administration.

The actor said the country was now being run by “the least qualified people” and invoked the term “kakistocracy” — from the ancient Greek kakistos, meaning “worst,” and kratos, meaning “rule” — a form of government in which the least qualified, incompetent, corrupt or self-serving people hold power.

“We’ve had difficult times before, but this is one of the most difficult,” Clooney said. “There’s a great word, kakistocracy, which means a country run by the least qualified people. I think that’s where we are right now, but we’ll get through it. We have elections in November that should provide some checks and balances, and then, hopefully, there will be some kind of recovery in 2028.”

The Oscar-winning actor also openly described President Donald Trump’s administration as “cruel,” expressing outrage that basic standards of decency and humanity appeared to have disappeared from public life.

“The very idea that cruelty has become the foundation, that being cruel and heartless is somehow part of the fun… Look at what the Secretary of Defense just posted on social media — a picture of a Canadian female soldier with a mocking comment. And you think, ‘What is wrong with you? Where is the decency?’ I’m ashamed of all of it, but we’ll get through this and come out the other side different.”

Clooney was referring to a recent post by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who mocked the appearance of an overweight Canadian female soldier who was presenting a medal at a youth camp.

Cinema as a Weapon Against Fear

Returning to the themes of his acceptance speech, Clooney reminded the audience that stories and art have always posed a threat to tyrants.

“People who are afraid of books, music and stories are never the heroes of history. So yes, movies don’t stop wars. They don’t bring down inflation. They don’t rig elections. But they do something remarkable. They remind us that a stranger is not necessarily a stranger — and that person might just be the hero in someone else’s story.”

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