Remembering George Clooney's passionate speech after Princess Diana's death
![In 1997, George Clooney gave a speech blaming the press for Diana’s death [Photo: PA]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/YW70jwh2Qm0rmifjiCK.Wg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD02Nzc-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/9700c1ec9f6c6ae2bac800a01a89b172)
George Clooney may never have met Princess Diana but that didn’t stop the actor from giving a passionate speech after the royal was tragically killed in a car accident in 1997.
A transcription of the actor’s words has been unearthed in time for the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death.
The day after the fatal accident which killed both Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed and was initially blamed on a high-speed paparazzi chase, Clooney – who was 36 at the time – gave a statement to a group of reporters at the Screen Guild Office in Los Angeles.
“Princess Di is dead, and who should we see about that? The driver of the car? The paparazzi? Or the magazines and papers who purchased these pictures and make bounty hunters out of photographers?” he said, referencing his own struggles with the press that still exist to this very day.
“If you weren’t hiding behind the profession of journalism, you would be an accomplice to a crime, and you would go to jail.”
![The media were initially blamed for Diana’s death [Photo: PA]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/cP8WAcQKC9Yml7T_E_N8og--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYxNw--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/afc1d7ce098df43990bf90d62ace935b)
Clooney also mentioned the editor of the National Enquirer, Steve Cox, for putting a headline reading ‘Di Can’t Get Enough Sex’ on the newsstands in the days just before the royal’s death.
“What ethics! Your cover of your magazine this week says, ‘Di Can‘t Get Enough Sex.’ It’s on the stands still. I also watch as you take your position on CNN, saying as long as there is a market for this, that you are just supplying the goods.”
Since then, Clooney has continued to speak out against press invasion, fighting to keep paparazzi away from his 2014 wedding to Amal as well as criticising media outlets for publishing pictures of his newborn twins, Ella and Alexander.
Sadly, little has changed since 1997 but it looks like George Clooney will keep on trying.
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