George and Amal Clooney Honor Maria Ressa at The Clooney Foundation for Justice's Albie Awards

Filipino journalist, Nobel Prize winner, and Rappler co-founder Maria Ressa has just been honored with the Justice for Journalists award at The Clooney Foundation for Justice’s Albie Awards. The inaugural event was held at the New York Public Library on September 29, but just before the event, George Clooney visited Stephen Colbert on The Late Show to talk about the Albie Awards and praise Ressa. 

“There’s a wonderful journalist called Maria Ressa from the Philippines. She’s as brave as you get. She’s facing 85 years in jail and she’s going back [to the Philippines], which I wouldn’t do, quite honestly. I would say, ‘Wait, New York is nice,’” Clooney said to Colbert. “She believes she’s carrying the burden of journalism on her shoulders and she believes she needs to go home. And I’m worried about her. She was Amal’s client as well, she won the Nobel prize.” 

The Clooneys launched the Foundation for Justice to honor journalists, human rights workers, and volunteers who are fighting injustice around the world. Other honorees include iAct, an organization that supports survivors of genocide, which received the Justice for Survivors Award; Viasna, a Belarusian human rights group, which received the Democracy Defenders Award; and Dr. Josephine Kulea of Samburu Girls Foundation in Kenya who received the Justice for Women award. 

The Albie Awards also awarded their namesake, Justice Albie Sachs, with the Lifestyle Achievement Award. Albie committed his life to ending apartheid in South Africa and lost his right arm in an assassination attempt for his work. 

“We believe that justice must be waged—it doesn’t just happen. So when journalists are locked up just for doing their job, we try to get them out of prison. When young girls are denied the right to study, work, or marry when they want, we help them fight for their rights through the courts. When minorities are targeted for genocide, we help trigger trials against the perpetrators,” said George and Amal Clooney.

The event was attended by a star-studded guest list, which included Michele Obama, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Tracee Ellis Ross, Gayle King, Ethan Hawke, John Krasinski, and more.