The French government on Wednesday found itself justifying its decision to grant U.S. actor George Clooney and his family citizenship after a junior minister challenged the move on fairness grounds.
“The message being sent is not good,” Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, a junior minister of the Interior Ministry, told broadcaster France Info in an interview. “There is an issue of fairness that, in my eyes, is absolutely essential.”
The French government published its naturalization decree last weekend in the Journal Officiel, where legal notices are posted. Clooney, his wife, Amal Clooney, and their 8-year-old twins, Ella and Alexander, took up residence on the 425-acre Domaine du Canadel estate and winery in Brignoles, in southern France, in 2021, and Clooney counts it as his primary residence.
“It’s now official,” Brignoles Mayor Didier Brémond announced once the sale was final, according to Wine Spectator. “George and Amal Clooney are residents of our beautiful community.”
The South of France is “where we’re happiest,” Clooney has said. The children have a “much better life” away from Hollywood culture, he said, since France’s strict privacy laws keep prying paparazzi at bay.
Vedrenne worried that at least some of the Clooneys’ French countrymen would resent what looked like special treatment. French officials said that foreign nationals who contribute to the country’s international influence and economic well-being are eligible for naturalization under French law. George Clooney’s international star power and its potential benefits for French cinema, combined with Amal Cloony’s steady work with French academic institutions and international organizations as a human-rights lawyer, fit the bill.
“They contribute, through their distinguished actions, to France’s international influence and cultural outreach,” the government said of the Clooneys. “They maintain strong personal, professional and family ties with our country. Like many French citizens, we are delighted to welcome Georges and Amal Clooney into the national community.”
With News Wire Services
