06/01/2026

LYFE TUESDAY | JAN 6, 2026

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A junior member of President Emmanuel Macron’s government last Wednesday criticised the French passports given to Hollywood superstar George Clooney despite him speaking poor French, saying the move suggested a “double standard”. The news of George, his wife Amal Clooney and their two children becoming French comes ahead of language requirements for citizenship being toughened for everyone else under new immigration rules from Jan 1. “Personally, I understand the feeling of some French people of a double standard,” Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, a junior interior minister, told the France Info radio station. “We need to be careful about the message we’re sending.” Her boss, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, and the foreign ministry however defended the decision. The civil code states “French nationality may be conferred by naturalisation, upon the proposal of the minister of foreign affairs, to any French-speaking foreigner who applies for it and who contributes through their distinguished service to France’s influence and the prosperity of its international economic relations.” But the 64-year-old Oscar winner has admitted that his French remains poor despite hundreds of lessons. Under the new immigration rules, applicants will need a certificate showing they have a level of French that could get them into a local university. They will also have to pass a civic knowledge test. George has a property in southern France and said he has hailed French privacy laws that keep his family largely protected from international media intrusion. His wife, an international human rights lawyer and dual UK-Lebanese national, French minister criticises Clooneys’ ‘double standard’ passport George bought the Domaine du Canadel, a former wine estate, near the Provence town of Brignoles, in 2021. He said it is where his family is “happiest”. Nunez, the interior minister, said he was “very happy” with the actor and his family becoming French citizens, saying the country was lucky to have them. The French foreign ministry said the passport allocation for the Clooneys “meets the conditions set by law” for naturalisation. The family “followed a rigorous procedure including security investigations, regulatory naturalisation interviews at the prefecture and the payment of tax stamps,” the ministry added. It highlighted the Clooneys had a French home and they “contribute through their distinguished service to France’s international influence and cultural prestige” through the actor’s role in the film industry. This “can only contribute to maintaining and promoting France’s position in this essential economic sector,” it said. Amal Clooney is a renowned lawyer who “regularly collaborates with academic institutions and international organisations based in France,” the ministry added. Some 48,800 people acquired French nationality by decree in 2024, according to interior ministry figures. – AFP speaks fluent French. Meets the conditions

Finding home in land of light o George Clooney, his wife Amal, children become French

H OLLYWOOD star George Clooney has become a French citizen, along with his wife Amal Alamuddin Clooney and their two children, an official decree seen by AFP earlier last week showed. The publication, in France’s government gazette, confirmed an ambition George alluded to early in December when he hailed French privacy laws that keep his family shielded from paparazzi. “I love the French culture, your language, even if I’m still bad at it after 400 days of courses,” the 64-year-old actor told RTL radio at the time – in English. “Here, they don’t take photos of kids. There aren’t any paparazzi hidden at the school gates. That’s number one for us,” he said. The now-dual US-French citizen has a long attachment to Europe, which even pre-dates his 2014 marriage to Amal, a British-Lebanese human rights lawyer who speaks fluent French. George owns an estate in Italy’s picturesque Lake Como region, purchased in 2002 – and he and Amal bought a historic manor in England. Their property in southern France – a former wine estate called the Domaine du Canadel, near the village of

reportedly sold homes in Los Angeles and Mexico over the past decade. The power couple are parents to eight-year-old twins. George said although the family jet-sets around, their French home “is where we’re happiest”. He is also a director and producer – and has two Oscars to put on whichever mantlepiece suits: one for best supporting actor in 2006’s Syriana and as a producer on 2012’s Argo . On top of his cinema pay cheques, he has raked in millions for celebrity endorsements, including for Nespresso – and got a windfall pay-out for selling his stake in a tequila brand. George is not the only Hollywood luminary to want to go French: US director Jim Jarmusch on Friday told France Inter radio that he plans to apply for French nationality. “I would like a place that will allow me to escape from the US,” he said, also saying he was attracted to French culture.

Brignoles – was purchased in 2021. They also own a New York apartment and a proper t y i n

George and his family has officially become citizens of France. – AFPPIC

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Top Gun copyright claim rejected by US federal appeals court

A federal appeals court ruled last Friday that the 2022 Tom Cruise blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick did not infringe a magazine article that inspired the original 1986 Top Gun film. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California said Maverick , from Paramount Pictures, was not substantially similar to Top Guns , a 1983 article by Ehud Yonay about the US Navy’s Top Gun fighter pilot training school in San Diego. Yonay gave Paramount rights to his article that year for the original Top Gun , and was credited in the film. His widow Shosh Yonay and son Yuval Yonay, heirs to his copyright, terminated the license in 2020 and said they deserved some profits from Maverick , whose US$1.5 billion (RM611.3 billion) worldwide gross is the 14th highest ever according to Box Office Mojo. Maverick is also Cruise’s highest grossing film. Lawyers for the Yonays did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Paramount, part of Paramount Skydance, said it was pleased the appeals court “recognised that plaintiffs’ claims were completely without merit.” The Yonays, both from Israel, said Maverick shared plot, character, dialogue and thematic elements with Top Guns , with both works depicting “what it takes to be the best of the best in fighter aviation.” The three-judge appeals court panel said Maverick contained many significant plot

Cast and crew including actors Cruise (sixth from left) and Jennifer Connelly (centre) at the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick in 2022. – REUTERSPIC

required to credit Ehud Yonay in Maverick because his 1983 agreement did not cover the film. Friday’s decision upheld an April 2024 dismissal by US District Judge Percy Anderson in Los Angeles. Paramount is also defending against a lawsuit in New York by screenwriter Shaun Gray, who said he wrote several scenes that appeared in Maverick and deserves some of its profits. Jury selection is scheduled for March 9. – Reuters

elements not in Top Guns , including a romantic subplot and Cruise’s character, Navy Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, returning to train younger pilots. It also said the Yonays described both works at “such a high level of abstraction” that the alleged similarities were not protectable. “Their claim of substantial similarity fails because what is protected is not similar, and what is similar is not protected,” Circuit Judge Eric Miller wrote. The panel added that Paramount was not