Why George Clooney (and Hollywood) Should Fear Bari Weiss

Bari Weiss has sent a chill down the spine of Progressive USA.

How?

She’s a Center-Left lesbian who, after being cruelly attacked by fellow New York Times employees for being a free thinker, created a media empire in a stunningly short amount of time.

Introducing The Free Press.

Then, when Weiss’ new venture proved profitable, she sold it to Paramount and agreed to personally overhaul the company’s CBS News franchise.

Her hand-picked anchor, Tony Dokoupil, kicked off his tenure by admitting the news media has lost its way. The modern reporter is disconnected from the average American and deserves much of the criticism leveled against it, he added.

New ‘CBS Evening News’ Anchor: Make Me Earn Your Trust https://t.co/Xyqi4d0Kgp

— Chuck Jordan (@ChuckJordan4) January 2, 2026

 

All of the above has made Weiss an enemy of both the Left and Legacy Media outlets (but we repeat ourselves). The far-Left Entertainment Weekly just dubbed Weiss a “conservative,” even though it rarely, if ever, uses ideological labels for Hollywood elite.

And, more importantly, how is Weiss conservative again? 

The Left’s panic over Weiss taking over CBS News, captured in a public meltdown over a spiked “60 Minutes” story, came to a head courtesy of a handsome Oscar winner.

George Clooney called Weiss out by name, saying she’s “dismantling” CBS News.

Typically, when a celebrity takes a progressive stand, the story circulates around the digital ecosystem. Legacy Media outlets regurgitate the charges, putting a not-so-subtle positive spin on the comments.

Words like “passionate” and “fiery” sneak into the reportage. And it more or less ends there. No journalist with access to someone like Clooney will challenge them on what was said.

Except Weiss ignored this media playbook.

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She’s a big enough pop culture voice now that she can directly address a Clooney type and know her message will be received. Heck, she oversees a broadcast news network, one of the biggest megaphones possible.

That explains the following Weiss response to Clooney’s accusations.

“Bonjour, Mr. Clooney! Big fan of your work. It sounds like you’d like to learn more about ours,” Weiss said in an email statement that CBS parent company Paramount Skydance shared with The Post on Tuesday.

“This is an open invitation to visit the CBS Broadcast Center, where I’m spending the holidays working to relaunch the Evening News with my colleagues. Tune in January 5.”

The “bonjour” reference targets the Clooneys fleeing America for France, a dig at a patriot who loves his country so much he decided to live elsewhere.

That’s just a surface-level taunt, but a powerful one. The real message is clear.

You can shoot your mouth off and the rest of the media will share it far and wide. But … if you want to have an adult conversation, and potentially a healthy debate, you’re welcome to join me.

You might even have a change of heart after hearing opinions you oh, so rarely hear.

Will Clooney take the bait? Don’t bet on it.

Either way, the bigger implications are obvious. If there’s now a major news network that tells it like it is, celebrities will have one less place where their views are left unchallenged.