Culture 2 min read By Trevor Kendall
George Clooney and Clark Gregg to Read Political Play at Midterms Fundraiser
George Clooney, Betty Gilpin, Adam Scott and Laverne Cox will read Clark Gregg's political play Smear at a November 1 fundraiser in New York ahead of the midterm elections.
George Clooney is headed back to the stage with his Good Night, and Good Luck co-star Clark Gregg for a political fundraiser ahead of the midterm elections. The two are reuniting for a reading of Gregg's play Smear, which will take place on November 1 in New York City.
The reading will also feature Betty Gilpin, Adam Scott and Laverne Cox, a lineup that puts several well-known television and stage performers in a single room for a politically themed evening. The event is structured as a fundraiser, tying the performance directly to the campaign season.
Clooney's last Broadway run drew strong attention. He appeared in Good Night, and Good Luck, the stage adaptation of the 2005 film about broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow and his confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy, and he earned a Tony nomination for the production. Gregg co-starred in that production as well, which gives the new reading a direct link to that earlier collaboration.
Smear is a political play written by Gregg, an actor best known to many audiences for his work in the Marvel film franchise and for his television roles. The project marks the latest step in a partnership between Clooney and Gregg that began on the Broadway stage and now moves toward a political fundraising context.
The November 1 date falls days before the 2026 midterm elections, when voters across the United States will choose members of Congress and state officials. Fundraising events of this kind are a standard part of the campaign calendar, and the pairing of a star-studded reading with a political cause reflects how entertainment and electoral politics often overlap in the run-up to Election Day.
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