George Clooney Addresses Mark Ruffalo Controversy, Reveals AI Fear, Talks His Kids, 'Ocean's' Movie Update & More | Just Jared

George Clooney is is opening up about everything from Hollywood and politics to getting older and raising his kids.

The 65-year-old Gravity actor is at the 2026 Venice Film Festival to receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award.

Before the ceremony, he attended a press conference on Wednesday (September 2), addressing a range of topics, from Mark Ruffalo being accused by Paramount of using “antisemitic tropes” while criticizing the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger to the rise of AI in the film industry and raising his kids.

Check out highlights from the press conference, via Variety.

What Did George Clooney Say About Mark Ruffalo?

“I support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely. 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.”

What Does George Clooney Think About the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger?

“I don’t see how the merger financially ends up making sense for the people who are trying to do it. We’ll see. I worry when a big company swallows up another company. I always worry whenever big companies are consolidating because it means a lot of people are going to lose their jobs.”

What Did George Clooney Say About AI?

“It’s going to hurt us in a lot of ways…I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I’m dead.”

What Did George Clooney Say About the State of America?

“How do you see the state of the [country]? There’s a great word, kakistocracy, which is a country run by the least qualified people. I think maybe we have a kakistocracy right now, but we’ll get through it. We will have an election in November that should be a check in balance. And then in 2028, we will have a restoration of some normalcy.”

“The state of journalism is in question. The richest people in the world are owning the Washington Post and Twitter, and that is a concern…there’s a lot of room for great journalists. I do believe that information will find its way out.”

What Did George Clooney Say About Getting Older?

“I’m 65 years old — everything is melancholy. You brush your teeth and you’re like, ‘My teeth used to be so much better.’ Everything about getting older…I also feel very lucky. I have an incredible wife [Amal Alamuddin Clooney] whom I love very much and she loves me. I have great kids. I think life is pretty good.”

Why Is George Clooney Spending Less Time Acting and Directing?

“I have two 9-year-old kids. If I act in a movie, it’s three months [away]. When I direct a movie, it’s a year. And I can’t do that anymore. I can’t pull the kids out of school anymore. I’m happy to doing this, being an actor, again. It’s fun. I’m a character actor now.”

When Will George Clooney’s New ‘Ocean’s’ Movie Film?

“I would do anything with [Brad Pitt and Matt Damon]. As soon as we get our schedules to work, we’re going to film.”

Find out why George Clooney was recently forced to evacuate his home.

Posted To:2026 Venice Film Festival Amal Alamuddin Clooney amal clooney Artificial Intelligence Brad Pitt George Clooney Mark Ruffalo Matt Damon Movies Ocean's Paramount venice film festival Warner Bros