The news that George Clooney has become a French citizen has sparked plenty of debate online, given that the film star has long positioned himself as a major Hollywood voice on U.S. politics and recently expressed pride in speaking out on issues that he believes are important to America, including his view that a second Trump presidency posed to danger to the country.
On one hand, there are those who agree with Clooney’s Democratic politics and who understand the reasons that the Oscar winner and his British and Lebanese wife, Amal, would want to live in France right now and would go to the trouble of obtaining French citizenship for themselves and their 8-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella. One person said on People magazine’s Instagram: “I don’t blame them. If I had the money, I would do the same thing.”
Someone else, commenting on a New York Times story about the Clooneys’ citizenship news, wrote that the couple’s choice to publicly live outside the United States “serves to shine a light” on “the exodus of talent” occurring as the Trump administration has cut research funding at universities and installed an autocratic system of government.
“While I personally will choose to stay and resist here, their actions are one example of how sometimes the most effective way to fight autocratic governments is to withhold participation in the daily activities of everyday life,” this person said. But another commentator lamented that Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife — “such high-profile defenders of justice and enlightenment values” — probably will be criticized for “leaving the U.S. and our problems for others to solve.”
Indeed, such criticism has been pouring forth online and for a variety of reasons, as the Clooneys have become the latest American celebrities, following Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres, to be open about taking up permanent residences in other countries since Trump returned to power in 2024.
Some have labeled George and Amal Clooney “hypocrites” and noted that they have the money to leave America when it’s convenient for them — a privilege not available to most others who also may be concerned about the state of the country. Others also criticized the “Jay Kelly” star for choosing Europe over the United States, even as he penned his influential New York Times op-ed in July 2024. In that piece, he spoke of being “terrified” of a second Trump term while urging his “friend” Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
And, not surprisingly, people who don’t appreciate Clooney’s politics, or his criticism of Trump, either expressed delight that the actor has left America, or they portrayed his desire for French citizenship as unpatriotic.
“Good-bye and good riddance,” someone wrote on the Fox News site. Another person said, “The “Clooneys are so full of themselves. Look at me look at me, but I will take my ball and go home.”
“Cool, since he is now a citizen of France, he can stop meddling in U.S. elections,” said yet another on Fox News. “For what it is worth, if a person gets citizenship in another country, his or her U.S. citizenship should be revoked, and all rights, including voting rights, should be rescinded. They should have ZERO RIGHTS in the U.S.”
The Kentucky-born Clooney now has dual U.S. and French citizenship, according to AFP.com. Since the French government confirmed Monday that the Clooneys have become French citizens, the “Michael Clayton” star has not issued a statement on his French citizenship, including whether this move was motivated by politics or his opposition to Trump.
However, Clooney has revealed in interviews over the past year that he and his wife, who is British and Lebanese, have made France their home, living on a farm and former wine estate they purchased in southern France in 2021, the Daily Beast reported. The Clooneys also have a villa on Italy’s picturesque Lake Como, which he purchased in 2002, and they own a historic manor in England. They moreover own property in New York City and Kentucky.
But their French farm is now their primary residence, and Clooney explained that it was a better place to raise their children than in America.
“They have a much better life,” the two-time Oscar winner told Esquire magazine in October about keeping his children out of the spotlight. “I was worried about raising our kids in L.A., in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life.”
In “France — they kind of don’t give a (expletive) about fame,” Clooney continued. “I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids.”
In an interview with RTL Radio, Clooney also praised France for its privacy laws, which keep a tight leash on the paparazzi.
“Here, they don’t take photos of kids,” Clooney said. “There aren’t any paparazzi hidden at the school gates. That’s number one for us.” Clooney also praised French culture and the language, though he admitted that, at his age, it was not easy for him to become fluent in the language, like his wife. “I’m still bad at it after 400 days of courses,” Clooney said.
Regarding Clooney’s “bad” French-language skills, the New York Times reported that the actor’s timing for gaining French citizenship may be fortunate: Starting next year, the French government is set to raise the language requirement for foreigners seeking residency and naturalization.
In talking to Esquire, Clooney gushed some more about raising his children on a farm, saying it keeps them grounded. He talked about how he, too, grew up on a farm in Kentucky. “As a kid, I hated the whole idea of it,” Clooney. “But now, for (the twins), it’s like — they’re not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in.”
On the Fox News site, some said said they understood Clooney’s desire to raise his children away from “the Hollywood culture.” However, they also said that he and his family could also have a good life on a farm somewhere in the United States, including in his home state of Kentucky. But to that, someone said, “I live in Kentucky. Speaking on behalf of the whole entire state, we don’t want him.”