A new book alleges that former President Joe Biden did not recognize actor George Clooney at a Democratic fundraiser in June 2024, despite knowing him for years. This encounter reportedly left the actor concerned.
The incident is described in “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” written by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson. Through interviews with over 200 Democratic insiders, the book examines Biden’s alleged cognitive and physical decline in the last year of his presidency.
An excerpt from The New Yorker highlights that when Biden attended the event co-hosted by Clooney and Julia Roberts, he seemed not to recognize Clooney. Upon their meeting, Biden reportedly said, “Yeah, yeah. Thank you for being here,” without realizing he was speaking to one of the hosts and a long-time acquaintance.
An aide had to inform Biden, saying, “You know George.” After understanding it was George Clooney, Biden responded, “Oh, yeah! Hi, George!”
The authors note that Clooney was “shaken to his core” by the interaction. A Hollywood VIP who saw the exchange commented, “That thing, the moment where you recognize someone you know — especially a famous person who’s doing a fundraiser for you — it was delayed. It was uncomfortable.”
The book also claims that Biden appeared “severely diminished” at the event, “as if he’d aged a decade” since Clooney last saw him in December 2022. Observers described Biden as “slow and almost catatonic” with “obvious brain freezes and clear signs of a mental slide.”
Former President Barack Obama was also at the fundraiser and reportedly intervened multiple times. The book details that when Biden addressed a small group of donors, he “trailed off incoherently,” leading Obama to “jump in and preside.” Obama would also “hop in and finish sentences for him” during photo sessions.
Less than a month following the alleged incident, on July 10, 2024, Clooney wrote an op-ed in The New York Times titled “I Love Joe Biden, But We Need a New Nominee.”
Clooney expressed his respect for Biden, citing admiration for his roles as senator, vice president, and president, and regarded him as a friend. However, he noted that “the one battle [Biden] cannot win is the fight against time.”
In his op-ed, Clooney reflected on the fundraiser, noting that the Biden he encountered was not the same as in 2010 or even 2020.
The book further reveals that before publishing his op-ed, Clooney consulted with Obama, who reportedly advised against it, suggesting it would only cause Biden to “dig in his heels deeper.” Clooney also shared the op-ed with Jeffrey Katzenberg, a media mogul and Democratic megadonor, who apparently disagreed with Clooney’s perspective and doubted the op-ed’s effectiveness.
Despite this, Clooney published the piece, and 11 days later, Biden exited the presidential race. In a subsequent interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Clooney described the op-ed as his “civic duty,” explaining that he felt obligated to speak out when he saw “people on my side of the street not telling the truth.”
Following Biden’s withdrawal, Clooney commended the former president for doing “the most selfless thing that anybody has done since George Washington.”
The Biden camp has contested the book’s claims. In a statement to PEOPLE, a Biden spokesperson said, “We have not reviewed the book, and the authors did not fact-check the book with us, despite it being a common practice to do so.”
The spokesperson stated that they are still waiting for any evidence indicating a situation where Joe Biden was required to make a presidential decision, where national security was at risk, or where he was unable to fulfill his duties. On the contrary, the spokesperson emphasized that the evidence suggests he was a highly effective president.
Both Joe and Jill Biden appeared on ABC’s “The View” on Thursday, May 8, 2025, and denied claims about his cognitive decline. “The people who wrote those books were not in the White House with us, and they didn’t see how hard Joe worked every single day,” the former first lady stated.
Clooney’s spokesperson declined to comment on the excerpt.
The book “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” will be released in late May 2025.
