{"id":2393667,"date":"2026-04-28T23:35:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T23:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2393667"},"modified":"2026-04-28T23:35:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T23:35:28","slug":"george-clooney-defends-jimmy-kimmels-widow-crack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/george-clooney-defends-jimmy-kimmels-widow-crack\/","title":{"rendered":"George Clooney Defends Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Widow’ Crack"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Actor George Clooney<\/a> defended Jimmy Kimmel<\/a> amid accusations that the late-night host was encouraging violence with a joke aimed at first lady Melania Trump<\/a> during his show last week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Weighing in on whether Kimmel was in the wrong for quipping that President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> wife had the glow of an \u201cexpectant widow\u201d just days before a gunman targeted an event the president was attending, Clooney compared Kimmel\u2019s remark to a comment White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt<\/a> had made before the shooting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cJimmy\u2019s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn\u2019t mean shots should be fired.<\/a> Right? She was making a joke. Fair enough. You look at that side and go, \u2018Well, jokes are jokes,\u2019\u201d he told Variety<\/a> during a red carpet interview at the 51st Chaplin Award Gala on Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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#GeorgeClooney<\/a> is defending Jimmy Kimmel after Trump\u2019s latest call for his firing: <\/p>\n

\u201cJimmy\u2019s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn\u2019t mean shots should be fired,\u201d Clooney told Variety at the 51st Chaplin Award Gala, where he was honored for his contributions to\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/ayxVRPnsbW<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Variety (@Variety) April 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Before an alleged assassin\u2019s attack shut down the annual White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday, Leavitt joked that reporters should be ready to see \u201csome shots fired\u201d when Trump took the stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That evening was his first time attending the event as president and was supposed to be his first time delivering a stand-up-comedy-style speech ribbing the press, as is the tradition at the dinner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Clooney did say that comments like Kimmel\u2019s could be \u201ca little dangerous,\u201d however, adding how that kind of charged rhetoric is something Americans have seen \u201ca lot lately.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After the gunman\u2019s attack, which authorities are investigating as an assassination attempt, the president described Kimmel\u2019s comments as a \u201cdespicable call to violence\u201d and demanded the comedian be fired.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The first lady made the same plea,<\/a> calling the comic\u2019s joke a \u201ccorrosive\u201d remark that only served to deepen \u201cthe political sickness within America.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kimmel stood defiant during Monday\u2019s episode<\/a> of his show, where he said his crack was nothing more than \u201ca very light roast joke about the fact that he\u2019s almost 80 and she\u2019s younger than I am.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd they know that. I\u2019ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n