George And Amal Clooney Donate $1 Million To Fight Hate Groups
George and Amal Clooney are donating $1 million to the Southern Poverty Law Center to fund an initiative that will fight hate groups.
George, an Oscar-winning actor and producer, and Amal, a prominent international lawyer and human rights activist, said in a statement that they were inspired to donate after witnessing events earlier this month in Charlottesville, Va., where a white nationalist protest ended in a riot with one death and many injuries.
“We are proud to support the Southern Poverty Law Center in its efforts to prevent violent extremism in the United States. What happened in Charlottesville, and what is happening in communities across our country, demands our collective engagement to stand up to hate,” the pair said in a statement.
George Clooney added in a separate statement to CNN that “Amal and I wanted to add our voice (and financial assistance) to the ongoing fight for equality. There are no two sides to bigotry and hate.”
Clooney appeared to be referring to President Trump’s statement after the events in Charlottesville that there was “blame on both sides.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center monitors extremist groups in the United States.
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!