Shooting at White House Correspondents’ Dinner; Clooney Defends Kimmel Joke

George Clooney defended Jimmy Kimmel's quip about First Lady Melania Trump on Monday at the 51st Chaplin Award Gala in New York. The actor, aged 64, said 'jokes are jokes' when asked about Kimmel’s remark calling the first lady an 'expectant widow' in a skit mocking the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Clooney added, 'She was making a joke.

Fair enough. But the rhetoric is a little dangerous. He said there’s 'no place' for the violence at the Washington gala. The White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting occurred two days after Kimmel's quip.

The incident marked the third attempt on President Trump’s life. Mentalist Oz Pearlman entertained President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the gala moments before shots were heard inside the Washington Hilton. President Trump called for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired after the joke about Melania Trump.

She added on X, 'People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Melania Trump further wrote on X, 'It is time for ABC to take a stand.

Jimmy Kimmel said in his monologue on Monday that the 'expectant widow' joke was about Melania Trump’s age difference with President Trump and the look of joy on her face when they are together. Oz Pearlman canceled his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show. George Clooney and his wife Amal, aged 48, donated $1 million to the Southern Poverty Law Center through their foundation in August 2017.

The donation occurred 10 days after the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.