The Nespresso sustainability drive is not out of character for George Clooney, noted for being one of Hollywood’s most politically active actors, as reflected in his appointment as a UN messenger of peace in 2008. Along with his Ocean’s co-stars Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle, Clooney is a co-founder of the Not On Our Watch Project, which seeks to attract global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass violations of human rights.
In April 2006, he spent ten days in Chad and Sudan with his father, TV journalist Nick Clooney, shooting a TV special A Journey to Darfur, highlighting Darfur’s refugee crisis and advocating action. Two years later he released a DVD of the special — the sales proceeds of which were donated to the International Rescue Committee — and joined Cheadle and two Olympians on a crusade to China and Egypt to ask both the governments to pressure Sudan’s government.
Involvement with foreign governments also took the form of his open letter to Angela Merkel in 2007, pleading the EU to take “decisive action” in view of Omar Al Bashir’s failure to comply with UN resolutions.
In response to the devastating Haiti earthquake in 2010, Clooney co-hosted the telethon Hope for Haiti Now, drawing an estimated audience of 83 million viewers and raising $61 million (Dh224 million) for the cause. In accordance with his intentions, Clooney was arrested outside Washington DC’s Sudanese Embassy in March 2012 for civil disobedience during a protest, proclaiming to reporters his concern for the children of Sudan — “stop raping them and stop starving them” — as he was led away.
— Adam Melone is a Gulf News intern
