George Clooney Rallies Behind Mark Ruffalo Amid Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Battle: ‘He’s a Good Man’

George Clooney is coming to Mark Ruffalo‘s defense after the 13 Going on 30 star, 58, faced backlash for his criticism of the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.

Clooney, 65, was on hand at the Venice Film Festival Wednesday, September 2 — where he was accepting the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award on the festival’s opening day — and he was asked about the state of politics in America and the rise of AI, particularly when it comes to Paramount’s ongoing attempt to merge with Warner Bros.

That’s when the Oscar winner came to the defense of Ruffalo, who was accused by Paramount of “antisemitic tropes” after the Marvel star attacked the deal over its potential consequences for Hollywood, accusing David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, and the Ellison family of being complicit in the ongoing conflict in Palestine.

“I support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely,” Clooney told Variety when asked about the controversy. “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.”

“There’re gonna be people tonight in the room that are gonna disagree with most everything I say or stand for. Fair enough, that’s how it’s supposed to be,” he continued. “We’re supposed to argue these things out and come to a conclusion based on the information we take in. So I will always support Mark Ruffalo’s ability to speak freely. I like him; he’s a good man.”

The Jay Kelly actor also shared his thoughts on the merger overall, and what the rise of AI means for Hollywood.

“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,” he said. “I always worry whenever big companies are consolidating because it means a lot of people are going to lose their jobs.”

Clooney added about AI: “We’re going through a revolution in our industry, and I think you all know it. And I hope you are aware, as we are, that AI is going to be a very big part of this industry. It’s going to hurt us in a lot of ways… a lot of jobs are going to be taken away.”

Clooney is the latest celebrity to voice their support for Ruffalo, with Globe previously reporting that both John Cusack and Jane Fonda have come out to back the Poor Things actor.

“Calling his criticism antisemitic is a smear to delegitimize criticism of the merger and to distract from the question Paramount would rather not answer: Should one company be allowed to accumulate this much power over our movies, television and news?” Fonda, 88, and her 1A Committee said in a memo issued on Instagram last month.

Ruffalo, meanwhile, rejected Paramount’s characterization of him as “antisemitic” in a post shared to X.

“The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest,” Ruffalo said in the August 22 post. “Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people.”

Cusack, 60, for his part, re-shared the post, adding, “Solidarity — well said.”