George Clooney has spoken highly of his wife Amal Clooney’s passion for helping free journalists who have been wrongly accused of and detained for their work all over the world.
The couple hosted their inaugural Albie Awards through their Clooney Foundation for Justice on Thursday night (29 September) at the New York Public Library.
The Albie Awards, named after South African lawyer and former judge Justice Albie Sachs, honoured those who have devoted their lives to justice and recognised judges, lawyers and rights groups for their work.
In a speech outside the library, the Ticket to Paradise star revealed what he loved most about creating the event with his wife.
“We collaborate on everything. We collaborated on twins!” George said. “But you know, this is an exciting one because Amal’s gotten journalists out of Egypt, out of Azerbaijan, prisons, out of all over the world, Myanmar.
“My father’s a journalist. I have a great affinity for them. Her mother’s a journalist. So it’s really exciting for me when she’s able to get people who are wrongly accused for doing their job [out of prison].”
The Oscar-winning actor added: “So for me… I couldn’t be more proud of my wife.”
Amal is a Lebanese-British barrister specialising in international law and human rights. Aside from helping journalists secure freedom, she also frequently represents victims of mass atrocities as well as political prisoners.
The awards ceremony was attended by celebrities including Meryl Streep, John Oliver, Julia Roberts, Dua Lipa, and Bruce Springsteen.
Sachs, who worked to end apartheid in South Africa and was a key player in writing the country’s constitution, was given a lifetime achievement award for his work.
The Justice for Journalists award was received by Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, who also became the first Filipino recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021.
Elsewhere, iAct, an organisation that supports survivors of genocide in refugee camps, was honoured with the Justice for Survivors award, while Belarusian human rights group Viasna received the Justice for Democracy Defenders award.
The Hollywood power couple founded their organisation in 2016 to create “a world where human rights are protected and no one is above the law”.
They write on the Clooney Foundation for Justice website: “We believe that justice, like war, must be waged; it doesn’t happen on its own. So we gather evidence of mass human rights abuses, provide legal support to victims, and work to ensure that perpetrators are held to account.”
