The Hollywood community has been mostly silent about the anti-Muslim filmmaker whose work the Obama administration blamed on the recent surge of Middle Eastern violence.
Bette Midler actually wanted the filmmaker charged with murder for his actions. Few of her peers stood up for the filmmaker and, by extension, an artist’s right to free speech no matter how offensive said speech might be.
Now, arguably the biggest name in film, Oscar-winner George Clooney, is weighing in on the subject.
“Freedom of speech means you have to allow idiots to speak, and that’s the unfortunate thing.” “This guy clearly wanted to create problems,” he continued referring to Nakoula Basseley, the Egyptian immigrant who appears to have masterminded the making of Innocence of Muslims. Clooney added that he saw part of the YouTube video: “It made me mad and I’m not Muslim,” he said. “It made me mad for the quality of film that it was, more than anything. But the simple truth is that in order to make [democracy] work, the idiots get to have their say, too. And that’s unfortunate.”
Note: Clooney used the word “unfortunate” not once but twice in his answer.