In the wake of President Trump unleashing a new series of tariffs that sent markets into a steep decline, a group of stars shoved into the Winter Garden Theater in Midtown Manhattan to see a play that lionizes the press, takes aim at right-wing politicians, and features actors talking about how they wake up in the morning unable to recognize the world around them.
Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC were on the right side of the theater, a few rows behind Gayle King of CBS. Uma Thurman and Kylie Minogue hovered nearby.
Even Jennifer Lopez was in the house, though that was not much of a surprise. The co-writer and star of the play she was about to see was George Clooney, who appeared alongside Ms. Lopez in the 1998 Steven Soderbergh caper “Out of Sight.”
The play, “Good Night, and Good Luck,” is an adaptation of the 2005 film that Mr. Clooney directed and that takes place in the 1950s during the height of the red scare.
It tells the story of Edward R. Murrow, the crusading CBS anchorman who used his platform to help bring about the downfall of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and end a government campaign against suspected American communists.
Mr. Clooney’s own political leanings are well known. A leading fund-raiser for the Democratic Party, he made news during the last election by writing a guest essay for The New York Times declaring it time for President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to stand down and pass the baton.
In the run-up to the premiere of the play, Mr. Clooney gave an interview to CBS News in which he discussed the essential role journalism plays in a functioning democracy and expressed his concern over the way billionaire businessmen who own media outlets like The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times have seemed, in his estimation, to be cozying up to Mr. Trump.
When Mr. Trump learned of Mr. Clooney’s comments, he wrote on his social networking site, Truth Social, “Why would the now highly discredited 60 Minutes be doing a total ‘puff piece’ on George Clooney, a second rate movie ‘star,’ and failed political pundit.”
Mr. Clooney’s star power still seemed to shine on Thursday as he received a great deal of support from people like Graydon Carter, the editor of Airmail and a frequent critic of Mr. Trump who famously has referred to him as a “short-fingered vulgarian.”
Also there to show support was Richard Kind, a comedian and actor who appeared with Mr. Clooney in a failed television pilot in the 1980s. After Mr. Clooney struck it big with “E.R.,” Mr. Kind was one of several friends who received $1 million from Mr. Clooney simply because.
“He’s the greatest guy,” Mr. Kind said, adding that he would be open to receiving some more money. “In New York it goes like that. I’ve got three kids in private school.“
The lights went down and a singer delivered a rendition of Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall In Love.” Mr. Clooney took the stage in a dark suit. His salt and pepper hair was dyed a shade of brown that he has said his kids “laugh at” nonstop.
Then, he delivered a monologue imploring people to “recognize that media, in the main, is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us.”
And for the next 90 minutes, parallels piled up between what Mr. Murrow went through in the 1950s and what journalists are going through today.
Here was Mr. Clooney, as Mr. Murrow, getting deflated by an actor portraying Bill Paley, the former head of CBS.
In the audience was the ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos, whose network recently paid Mr. Trump $15 million to bring an end to a defamation suit he filed against the network after Mr. Stephanopoulos said on air that Mr. Trump had been found liable in a civil case for rape, when he’d actually been found liable for sexual abuse.
It was heavy stuff, but most in the crowd seemed to exit the theater happy and ready to let loose at the after-party, at the New York Public Library.
In the lobby, which doubled as the main event space, Anna Wintour, the global chief content officer of Condé Nast, marched up to Lorne Michaels, the creator of “Saturday Night Live” and thanked him for his R.S.V.P. to the Met Gala.
“I’m so happy you’re coming,” she said, adding to a nearby reporter that it was going to be “his first time.”
As waiters passed out lobster rolls and mini-burgers, Ms. Lopez wafted over to Mr. Clooney, gave him a peck on the cheek and declared his performance in the play to be “wonderful” and “amazing.” (“You know that was me yelling for you?” she said.)
A few feet away, a reporter asked Rande Gerber, Mr. Clooney’s close friend and business partner on the tequila brand Casamigos, whether staging the show on Broadway might be a curtain raiser for Mr. Clooney to one day run for office.
“I think a lot of people wish he would,” Mr. Gerber said. “But I have no knowledge he is.”
Asked directly if he would consider the option, Mr. Clooney gave a shake of the head, flashed his best People’s Sexiest Man Alive smile and said he was “so much happier” doing things like “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Further, he said, “it’s fun to pick fights,” especially with a guy like Mr. Trump, who he thinks is doing so much to “tank” the economy.
Then, Mr. Clooney flashed another smile, declared himself to be “more optimistic” about the future of the Democratic Party than many of his friends, and headed off to say hello to several more of them.
