Sean Penn’s Diplomatic New Gig

Staff / Truthdig Jan 18, 2012 He's certainly been rehearsing for this role for years (remember his post-Katrina floating photo op?), and now Sean Penn has an honest-to-goodness new post as the ambassador at large to Haiti, as of a special ceremony held in his honor last weekend. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘The Descendants’: Clooney Goes Down Easy

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Nov 18, 2011 We exist today in a climate of movie extremes—extreme action, extreme comedy. There are not many mild, agreeable pictures that take place in pleasant surroundings and set people we can identify with to dealing with issues that at sometime or other all of us will have to engage.“The Descendants” is the work of director Alexander Payne, the gentle giant of nice-guy filmmaking (“Sideways,” “About Schmidt”), and, as before, he is not about winding his stories tight and tense. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Missing From ‘March’

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Oct 11, 2011 George Clooney is the nominal star (and director) of "The Ides of March," a not particularly thrilling, but sort of agreeable, political thriller, in which he is largely AWOL. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Clooney Zeroes In on ‘The $700 Billion Man’

Staff / Truthdig Apr 15, 2011 Does the name Neel Kashkari ring a bell? Think way back to the year 2008, when the word bailout was just entering the vernacular in relation to Wall Street, not prison, and when Henry Paulson was still in charge of the Treasury Department. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Damon No Longer an Obama Fan

Staff / Truthdig Mar 9, 2011 Matt Damon was apparently paying attention as he narrated "Inside Job," Charles Ferguson's Oscar-winning documentary about the architects of the ongoing global economic catastrophe, as he's broken with the cohort of celebrities who . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Clooney Comes to Haiti’s Aid

Staff / Truthdig Jan 15, 2010 This is a time when celebrity can come in handy, and one star in particular, George Clooney, is lending his power to the cause of helping earthquake-ravaged Haiti. The actor-director is also rallying some of his famous friends to join him for a "mega-telethon" he's planning, according to The Wrap. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bill O’Reilly Boycotting Sean Penn Films

Staff / Truthdig Mar 31, 2009 How will Sean Penn sleep at night knowing that Fox News' own talking points champion, Bill O'Reilly, has declared that he will never see another one of Penn's movies? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Clooney in Chad

Staff / Truthdig Feb 27, 2009 The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof recently took at trip to Chad with an unlikely sidekick: George Clooney. Kristof was skeptical at first, but Clooney -- always the charmer! -- won him over, and thus Kristof came to see the potential benefits of celebrity advocacy. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Clooney Raises $900K for Obama in Switzerland

Staff / Truthdig Sep 5, 2008 He might have steered clear of last week's Democratic National Convention, claiming that politicians were the proper stars of that show, but George Clooney didn't miss his chance to charm some $900K out of American supporters of Barack Obama at a fundraiser in Switzerland on Tuesday. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Clooney and Damon Are “Obama Guys”

Staff / Truthdig Jun 1, 2007 Sen. Hillary Clinton was gearing up on Thursday for a young Hollywood campaign fund-raiser -- and not a moment too soon. Time magazine reported from the Cannes Film Festival that "Oceans 13" studs George Clooney and Matt Damon are enthusiastic about Barack Obama's  '08 presidential bid. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Picking Teams in Hollywood

Staff / Truthdig Mar 30, 2007 After Barack Obama's Oscar-week fundraising blitz last month, the '08 race has heated up for Democratic presidential candidates going a-courtin' in Hollywood. But the backing of celebrities can be a blessing and a curse, as George Clooney notes in Friday's L.A. Times, hinting that he will help Obama however he can -- even if that means "staying completely away from him." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )