George Clooney Spends Nespresso Commercial Money on Spy Satellite in Sudan

Actor reveals he uses his paycheck to fund the satellite that keeps tabs on Omar al-Bashir

By Bruna Nessif Jul 31, 2013 9:02 PMTags
George Clooney, NespressoNespresso

George Clooney keeps busy with numerous blockbuster films, but he's also the face of Nespresso, the Nestlé espresso coffee company, and when that paycheck comes through, he knows exactly where it's going.

The actor admits to using that money to keep tabs on Sudan president Omar al-Bashir.

"Most of the money I make on the [Nespresso] commercials I spend keeping a satellite over the border of North and South Sudan to keep an eye on Omar al-Bashir [the Sudanese dictator charged with war crimes at The Hague]," the star told The Guardian.

"Then he puts out a statement saying that I'm spying on him, and how would I like it if a camera was following me everywhere I went and I go, 'Well, welcome to my life, Mr. War Criminal.' I want the war criminal to have the same amount of attention that I get. I think that's fair."

The actor has been active in trying to end al-Bashir's reign over Sudan for quite some time and created The Satellite Sentinel Project to track the movements of Sudan's brutal army as an attempt to warn civilians in advance of attacks.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

"The truth is…we're going to have to find lots of ways to make life miserable for people who make lives miserable," he said at the Carousel of Hope Ball, where he was honored with the Brass Ring Award, last year. "And more importantly…we have to continue to make life bearable for those whose situation has become unbearable."

Clooney continued, "It's an area that journalists can't get into. There's a good reason they can't get in, because the president of Sudan Omar al-Bishir is consistently and constantly killing innocent civilians."

The celeb was even arrested in March 2012 for protesting outside the Sudanese embassy. "We're here to ask two very important questions," Clooney told reporters at the time. "We need immediate humanitarian aid into Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and...the second thing we ask is for the government in Khartoum to stop killing their own men, women and children...stop raping them and stop starving them."