George Clooney in turn gives a strong opinion on the Warner Bros. merger. /Paramount

Present in Venice to receive an honorary Golden Lion, the actor criticizes the merger of the two studios, and is concerned about the consequences of AI on Hollywood.

After Tom Cruise, it is George Clooney’s turn to comment on the proposed merger between Warner Bros. and Paramount.

Present in Venice, where he received an honorary Golden Lion for his entire career, the actor also defended Mark Ruffalo, strongly criticized by Paramount after his stance against the operation.

Asked about the controversy surrounding the Marvel star, accused by Paramount of having used “anti-Semitic stereotypes” after denouncing the potential consequences of the merger for Hollywood and taking a position on the situation in Gaza, Clooney clearly defended his colleague.

“I support Mark Ruffalo’s freedom to express himself. It’s ridiculous. We are not going to ban speech. I believe in freedom of speech, even when I completely disagree with what is being said. It’s important. This is even partly how democracy works..”

Regarding the merger itself, George Clooney is much more skeptical:

“It’s a complicated thing. I don’t know how this will work“, he admits, before directly questioning his economic logic:

“I don’t see how this merger can ultimately make sense financially for those trying to make it happen. We’ll see…“

The actor says he is especially worried about the consequences of such concentration in the Hollywood industry. “I worry when one big company swallows up another. I always worry when big companies consolidate, because that means a lot of people are going to lose their jobs.”

George Clooney was also asked about artificial intelligence, whose influence on Hollywood continues to grow. According to him, AI “will take a very large place in this industry”but he fears that she “hurts us a lot in many ways“. And the actor couldn’t resist a little joke about the possible consequences of AI on his image after his death:

“I would like to avoid finding myself in a tampon ad twenty years after my death..”