Academy Award winning actor, George Clooney has lent his name to several humanitarian efforts through the years, and now he is using his celebrity status to build support for President Obama. The Descendants star announced today that he will host a $40,000-a-head fundraiser for the president at his Los Angeles home in May.
About 150 supporters are expected to attend the event, and proceeds will reportedly be given to the Obama Victory Fund; a joint fundraising committee of Obama for America, the Democratic National Committee and several state Democratic parties.
“I’m proud to do whatever I can to support the president, as long as no one asks me to sing.” Clooney said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight.
Clooney has never been shy about his political activism. Last month he was arrested during a protest in front of Sudan’s embassy in Washington, D.C.
During Obama’s 2008 election campaign, the senator from Illinois received an overwhelming amount support from celebrities like Matt Damon, Halle Berry, and Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas. “He is ‘The One,” Oprah said while showing her support for the presidential nominee.
However four years later some Hollywood Democrats have walked away from the Obama bandwagon. During a recent interview Damon, subtly spoke out about about the president’s first term in office, saying “I think he misinterpreted is mandate.”
Diddy also recently made somewhat critical remarks about the president. “I love the president like most of us,” Sean “Diddy” Combs said in an interview with The Source magazine this year. “I just want the president to do better.”
Oprah Winfrey, who Obama has jokingly said was a pivotal endorsement in his 2008 election, will not be hitting the campaign trail like she did four years ago. Though she said she supports the president “100 percent.”
Meanwhile, West Wing actor Martin Sheen remains bullish on Obama. “Of course, he’s going to win. When he gets Romney one on one then you’ll see the quality of the man, where he comes from, what he stands for and where he wants to take us. Romney’s got a big wallet and a lot of campaign rhetoric, but what’s he going to stand on when he stands next to Obama and debates?” said Sheen.
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