George Clooney is being honored at the Kennedy Center this month. He says he avoids social media because he can’t be a star and be available. Clooney will be featured as part of the Kennedy Centre Honors on December 28 at 8 p.m. on CBS. “He’s one of the few people who punches upward. That’s rare,” Steven Soderbergh said of Clooney’s humanitarian efforts through his Clooney Foundation for Justice alongside wife Amal, a human rights attorney. “You have to admire his willingness to lead,” said Ethan Hawke, who directed Clooney in a voice role as Newman in this year’s HBO documentary “The Last Movie Stars” “It’s interesting that he’s getting theKennedy Center Honors this year because Newman got it too,” Hawke said of the late Paul Newman. “They fit in a long line of really responsible artists, people who make a contribution to U.S. culture and are civic leaders,” he said of both Clooney and Newman, who were friends of his before they died. “And both of them had great humor about themselves,” he added of Peck and Newman.. “I don’t think you can be a stars and be that available,” Clooney said. “It means stand up for the things you believe in, carry yourself with a little bit of dignity,” the “Ticket to Paradise” star said of his role in “Out of Sight” The Oscar-winning actor said he manages to avoid too much exposure to today’s 24/7 media cycle by not engaging on those platforms, which he acknowledges would be problematic “if I have three drinks at night” He also said he doesn’t like to be in the limelight too much. “The default mode really doesn’t lead you to a place of thinking about fairness, or defending people who can’t defend themselves,” Soderberson said. He said Clooney likes to be “in the direction of self-orientation and being in a mode of extracting whatever you can from this business, and whatever you could from the world at large” The actor is active in humanitarian efforts in addition to his pursuits as an actor, producer and director. “Whether you like George’s politics, or admire where he gives his money and time, you have to admiring his willing to lead, and his willingnessto care,” said the director of “Out Of Sight” “That’s not the way the stream flows,” he told the Washington Post. “His willingness to care” is “rare,” said Soderobergh, “and that’s great when people use that juice for those purposes, but that’s not how the stream flow” The Kennedy Center honors will take place on Dec. 28 on CBS, with Gladys Knight and U2 among the honorees. The ceremony will be hosted by Oprah Winfrey, who will also be in attendance, along with U2’s Robin Williams and U1’s Robin Givhan.
George Clooney has a simple strategy for being a star in the age of social media. He doesn’t use Twitter.
