George Clooney expressed his frustration to the White House after President Joe Biden criticized the International Criminal Court’s investigation into Israeli leaders, a case involving Clooney’s wife, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
Clooney contacted Steve Ricchetti, a counselor to the president, last month following Biden’s condemnation of the ICC’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as “outrageous,” according to three administration officials cited by the Post.
The two-time Academy Award winner was worried that the Biden administration might impose sanctions on the international court, which could affect his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, the Post reported.
Amal Clooney was part of a six-person panel that reviewed evidence of war crimes in Gaza for ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan. The panel recommended charges against Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as the arrest of three top Hamas leaders.
The Clooneys run the Clooney Foundation for Justice, an international human rights organization. George Clooney also supported the Enough Project, which focused on war crimes in Sudan.
Clooney is set to appear next week at a Biden fundraiser in Los Angeles alongside former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, actress Julia Roberts, and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY, and a representative for the Clooneys was unavailable.
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