George Clooney repeats call for Parthenon sculptures' return

George Clooney doubles down on his claim that the Parthenon Sculptures should be returned to Athens.

George Clooney has said that the Parthenon Sculptures should be returned to Athens, risking another clash with Prime Minister of the UK Boris Johnson, who stated in a recent interview that the sculptures currently on display in the British Museum were 'legally acquired' from the Acropolis.

Clooney wrote to campaigner Dame Janet Suzman, who claims he said “the Parthenon Sculptures must be returned to their original owner”.

In 2014, when Clooney said returning them was “the right thing to do”, Boris Johnson compared him to Hitler.

Johnson, then foreign secretary, said Clooney was “advocating nothing less than the Hitlerian agenda for London’s cultural treasures”.

Last December Clooney admitted in an interview: “It still makes me laugh. Bit of a stretch.”

Dame Janet, chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, told the Art Newspaper that Clooney wrote to her saying:

“There are a lot of historical artefacts that should be returned to their original owners, but none more important than the Parthenon Marbles.”

Clooney’s wife Amal has acted for the Greek government as they sought the return of the marbles.

Only recently Boris Johnson said that the Parthenon marbles were legally acquired by Britain.

Will we be seeing Johnson vs Clooney round two?