Winning the Supporting Actor Oscar for “Syriana,” George Clooney, who was also up for Best Director for “Good Night, and Good Luck,” said humorously: “Well, it looks like I am not gonna win best director, and from here on in, it will be Oscar winner George Clooney, Sexiest Man Alive in 1997, 'Batman,' died in a freak accident.”
Clooney then proceeded with a more serious and political speech, that addressed the issue of Hollywood being out of touch: “We're the one who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights, when it was not really popular. We also gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 (for “Gone With Wind”), when blacks were still sitting in the backs of the theaters.”
