Amal Clooney’s sexy DVF Awards speech was empowering for feminists who are in love. It was on ode to women who are both powerful and boo’d up. It was the perfect cocktail of Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar” and Latto’s “I wanna thank my man” speech from the 2023 BET Awards.
Having been present at the event, I felt the electrifying energy in the room when Mrs. Clooney walked into the event in a slinky, nude-colored lace slip dress, adorning the one accessory on her shoulder that many women secretly want, but simply can’t have: her movie star husband George Clooney.
This past Thursday, the renowned human rights attorney and Columbia Law School professor who has spent the past two decades of her life defending justice for those who have been caught up in systems of injustice was awarded the prized DVF Leadership Award in Venice, Italy at the 14th Annual DVF Awards in partnership with Vital Voices, named in honor of the celebrated fashion designer and philanthropist Diane von Furstenberg. The honor comes with a $100,000 grant from the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation for each honoree (there are five) to use for advance their work. For Mrs. Clooney, it would be the Clooney Foundation for Justice.
There to present Mrs. Clooney with her honor was one of her clients, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa, a journalist from The Philippines who is currently undergoing political persecution for writing about truth, disinformation and democracy.
“When the person who is keeping you out of jail gets honored, you show up,” said Ressa in a passionate introduction to her lawyer that went on to describe Mrs. Clooney as a compassionate and brilliant attorney who will stop at nothing to seek justice for her clients.
It was an honor and privilege to be in the room to hear such a personal and empowering account of a woman who I had only seen in passing via People magazine headlines and other light-weight stories in the news.
But on this night, I felt the weight of the substance that Mrs. Clooney brings to the world, along with her striking beauty and being known as the wife of a Hollywood star. So much more than that, I learned on that evening that Amal Clooney is a feminine, feminist warrior for justice who seems to wields her soft power just as skillfully as she wields her barrister power.
“At the Clooney Foundation, we provide free legal support to victims of human rights violations, and one of our programs is called Waging Justice for Women, and we say ‘waging justice’ very deliberately because we know that justice isn’t inevitable. It doesn’t just happen. We have to fight for a world where we are able to say that every woman has the right to choose the life that she wants to lead,” she started.
“But if there’s one thing that gives me hope, it’s seeing women shining a light on other women and not giving up,” she continued.
Mrs. Clooney then went on to quote Eleanor Roosevelt.
“It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”
But here is where some in the audience began clutching their pearls:
“There’s one more person I want to mention before I sit down and I’m sorry, but it’s man. I hope you’ll forgive me. But I am here in Venice with my husband and, yes, he’s a rising star,” she teased. “This is exactly the place where, almost exactly nine years ago we were married, and as we sailed through the city over the last few days the thought that I’ve had is just how incredibly lucky I am because somehow our incredibly different worlds collided one day 10 years ago in Lake Cuomo and I just think about the millions of things that had to happen in both of our lives to bring us to that moment and how grateful I am for that night, my love. And I just wanted to say to you, my love, you like this city, take my breath away and you make our lives magical and it’s sometimes hard to believe you exist. So, thank you…”
The applause overshadowed the quiet whispers of, “How could she thank a man—her man—during a night of women’s empowerment,” the murmurs seemed to go.
My answer is because she can. Women can be everything, do everything and have everything on their own, or with support. But it is so very nice to have support, especially when it is from a man who props you up and propels you forward, as opposed to holding you back. I got the vibes of Amal Clooney being a self-made woman who would have received the award regardless of her who she is married to—make no mistakes about it, she is out her in the global streets doing the real work. And in that acceptance speech, I also saw a woman who is a wife, thanking her husband for supporting her with grace in order for her to continue to flourish and be all who she is meant to be in this world—even after a decade of marriage and kids and all of the pressures that come along with family life. Period-T.
By the time Amal finished thanking her man in her acceptance speech, I didn’t know whether I wanted to smoke a cigarette or have a drink. But three things were crystal clear by the end of it: being smart, seeking justice and thanking your man in public, is super empowering and sexy.
Mr. Clooney is, perhaps, the one who has shown us that all along. After dating a string of waitresses and actresses as the media pegged him, “the world’s most eligible bachelor.” But in the end, he chose a woman with heart, smarts and a drive to make a positive social impact.
For that, I love this man. I love this couple. And, I loved Amal Clooney’s sexy DVF Awards speech.
