George Clooney Explains Why The Albies Shine a Light on Justice: “It Feels Like It’s in Short Supply”
5 mins read

George Clooney Explains Why The Albies Shine a Light on Justice: “It Feels Like It’s in Short Supply”

The BFI London Film Festival isn’t the only big event attracting big and famous names to the British capital this week. Case in point: The Albies, the fifth annual awards ceremony organized by The Clooney Foundation for Justice, held Friday evening at London’s Museum of Natural History. Amal and George Clooney, in their roles as co-founders of The Clooney Foundation for Justice, Brad Pitt, Laura Dern, Emma Thompson, Felicity Jones, Joel Edgerton, Josh Hartnett, Rivals star Alex Hassell, Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, Bianca Jagger, Emily Ratajkowski, Hannah Waddingham and many more brought star power to the event. And everyone was dressed to the nines.

Read more Rodney Muñoz, Emmy-Winning ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Costume Designer, Dies at 60

They were joined by representatives of sponsors, such as Brad Smith, vice chair and president at Microsoft, and makeup artist and beauty entrepreneur Charlotte Tilbury, as well as talk show host Graham Norton, actors Isla Fisher, Ncuti Gatwa, Marisa Abela, Katherine Waterston, Richard Kind, Myha’la and Hugh Bonneville, musicians Vic Mensa and Jackson Browne, as well as Melinda French Gates.

Clooney told THR about why justice deserves a spotlight: “It feels like it’s in short supply, doesn’t it? It’s hard when you look around, and you see such large-scale pieces of injustice, and we, at times, start to think of it as the new normal. And it’s good to be here with people who remind us that there’s nothing normal about people not being treated fairly. There’s nothing normal about people not having their rights. And these are people that we’re honoring tonight who put their lives on the line to do that.”

The honorees’ names may not be household names, the star acknowledged. “You’ll recognize the names of the people who are introducing them,” he offered. “And each one of those people that you recognize would be thrilled to have that light shining less on them and more on the people doing things to make the world better.”

Clooney also shared a brief update on Ocean’s 14 with THR. “I think we’ll shoot a lot in London, a lot in the U.K., some in France,” he said. “I think we start in about 11 months. It’s a ways off, but the older we get, the funnier it is. We start falling down a lot.”

Waddingham told THR about The Albies: “It’s the most important night of the year in terms of the people who have a fortunate platform to give something back, and George and Amal do that in spades. The biggest point for me in terms of justice for others is those of us who find ourselves in a fortunate position helping those who face the injustices of the world, and they cannot fight for themselves.” She added: “George and Amal find them and fight for them. The stories that you hear in there are really breathtaking.”

Read more New ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’ and Crunchyroll Live-Action Reveals Shared at Anime Future Forum

Could her fans see her co-starring in a film or series with Clooney any time soon? “Oh, I don’t know,” she said before adding with a nod in the direction of Clooney. “Ask him!”

This year’s Albie honorees are Kyrgyz journalists Bolot Temirov and Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, Malawian girls’ rights advocate and shelter founder Vanessa Mwangala, U.S. wartime photojournalist Lynsey Addario, as well as Congolese human rights organization Justice Plus and Microsoft’s Smith in his role of human rights advocate.

The annual Albies ceremony looks to shine an international spotlight on “courageous individuals and organizations who have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of justice, often at great personal risk.” The award is named after the legendary Justice Albie Sachs, “a hero of the anti-apartheid movement who survived imprisonment, exile and an assassination attempt in the fight for equality in South Africa,” the organization says. “Inspired by his legacy, George and Amal Clooney created the Albies to ensure that the people doing the hardest work to promote justice – often far from the spotlight – are seen, heard and protected.”

Fisher lauded the couple that brought a big crowd together on Friday. “What George and Amal do is just unbelievable. They are using their platform to stand up for what they believe in, which is just a very courageous and critical thing, particularly right now,” she told THR. “And it’s not just about raising awareness. They actually make people accountable, and that’s the really important piece.”

Ahead of his performance at Friday’s event, Mensa told THR: “I’m excited to perform tonight and grateful to George Clooney and Amal for bringing me out. I am in admiration of the sacrifices that they have made.”

And he shared insight about his performance: “I’m performing a song called ‘We Could Be Free’ that I did at the March for Our Lives [in 2018 for gun control] that they also organized.” Concluded Mensa: “Although some of the specific details that I mention in the song have shifted and the focus may be elsewhere in the world, the sentiment is exactly the same. Many of the challenges that humanity faces have always been [around].”

Read more ‘The Social Reckoning’ Stars Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White Discuss the Pressure of Following ‘The Social Network’

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *