The Jimmy Kimmel controversy is drawing in some of Hollywood’s biggest names. George Clooney has spoken out in support of the late-night host amid growing backlash over a joke Kimmel made about Melania Trump, as President Donald Trump continues to call for Kimmel’s firing following the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
What George Clooney said about the controversy
Speaking at the 51st Chaplin Award Gala, Clooney drew a direct comparison between Kimmel’s joke and a remark made by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who had told Fox News on the red carpet before the dinner that “there will be some shots fired tonight in the room.”Clooney said, “Jimmy’s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn’t mean shots should be fired. 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.”He also addressed the broader tone of political discourse. “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,” he said, adding that this kind of hyperbolic language “can be toned down.”
What sparked the controversy on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live‘
The backlash stems from a clip from ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ filmed before the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, in which Kimmel joked that Melania had “a glow like an expectant widow.” The clip went viral after a gunman attempted to enter the dinner on Saturday, April 25.President Trump responded by calling Kimmel’s humour “shocking and dangerous”, particularly in the context of the armed man attempting to enter the event. He alleged that Kimmel “showed a fake video of the First Lady and their son” and called on Disney and ABC to fire him. “He was there for a very obvious and sinister reason,” Trump said.Melania also issued a response, accusing Kimmel of using “hateful and violent rhetoric.” In a post on X, she wrote, “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy. His words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.”