There's something hilarious in the lefty Hollywood trade magazine Variety channeling George Clooney attacking CBS News as falling apart and apparently not holding Donald Trump accountable. The leftist press never holds George Clooney and his fellow Hollywood Democrats accountable. Executive Editor Brent Lang is a typical cozy kitten in this Clooney cover story, channeling his view that Trump's lawsuits against the media were "frivolous." Variety is frivolous. Variety's headline emphasized Clooney's "GFY" bravado: “If CBS and ABC had challenged those lawsuits and said, ‘Go fuck yourself,’ we wouldn’t be where we are in the country. That’s simply the truth.” Brent Lang failed to Google-search Clooney and his record on defamation suits: "The investigative organization The Sentry, co-founded by George Clooney and John Prendergast, settled a defamation lawsuit in late 2022." Clooney has energetically pushed the leftist myth of CBS News standing up against McCarthyism under Edward R. Murrow, and constantly comparing that hackneyed leftist crusade to the present day, and who cares if the Soviet Union actually infiltrated the country with spies after World War II? Who cares about The Truth again? Not Clooney. He's naturally pissed at Bari Weiss for daring to move CBS one inch toward the center.  “Bari Weiss is dismantling CBS News as we speak,” Clooney says. “I’m worried about how we inform ourselves and how we’re going to discern reality without a functioning press.” For her part, Weiss handled Clooney by inviting him in, sending Variety this statement: "Bonjour, Mr. Clooney! Big fan of your work. It sounds like you’d like to learn more about ours. This is an open invitation to visit The CBS Broadcast Center, where I’m spending the holidays working to relaunch the Evening News with my colleagues. Tune in January 5." To the Clooneys, a "functioning press" means going Full Jim Acosta all the time. It's in the pose and in the lunge at The Right-Wing Enemy, not in the facts. Clooney thinks the Glory Days at CBS apparently include Dan Rather's Fake News about George W. Bush's National Guard record, not to mention Rather screaming at his father about Iran-Contra. But he let Robert Redford embarrass himself with the Fake News Movie on that front.  When the Rathers and the Steve Krofts cuddled up to the Clintons or the Obamas, well, that was not "dismantling CBS News." Because its purpose is to advance the "right side of history," not holding that side accountable. But Lang is his publicist. Clooney, who always seems to run cool, grows animated discussing how certain members of that profession have abandoned journalism’s mission to hold the powerful to account. It makes him think about something Murrow says in both the film and the play. “‘Let’s not confuse dissent with disloyalty,’” Clooney says. “I mean, what a beautiful, important statement about who we are at our best. But all too often we fall short.” Clooney has long been one of the entertainment industry’s most outspoken liberals, so it’s no surprise to hear that he believes President Trump’s behavior flies in the face of Murrow’s ideals. “It’s a very trying time,” Clooney says. “It can depress you or make you very angry. But you have to find the most positive way through it. You have to put your head down and keep moving forward because quitting isn’t an option.” How did Clooney do in holding Joe Biden to account? He watched his cognitive decline close up at a June fundraiser, and said nothing for almost a month, until after Biden's terrible debate. But Brent Lang doesn't question Clooney or hold him accountable, he shamelessly puffs him up:  In 2024, Clooney made a big political stir, not by criticizing Trump, but for a New York Times op-ed he wrote urging Joe Biden to drop out of the race following his debate meltdown. Many Democrats were relieved that someone was taking a stand that might save the country from Trump, but the Biden family has continued to criticize Clooney for being disloyal. Soderbergh says, “I thought, ‘Holy shit.’ It’s classic George. He knows there are going to be so many people pissed at him, but if something is wrong, he’s going to speak out. Somebody had to say it.”  Oh, he was so brave! A classic!  Lang even promoted Clooney's bravado on X. What a publicist he is:  George Clooney's next act: The Oscar-winning star on saying goodbye to leading man roles, his idea for another "Ocean's 11" movie, and why news organizations should have told Trump 'go fuck yourself' instead of settling lawsuits. https://t.co/fnaCg19XJH — Brent Lang (@BrentALang) December 30, 2025