Joe Biden poked fun at George Clooney's marriage while introducing him at the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors.
On Sunday Clooney was one of a number of artists awarded the accolade by the president, alongside the likes of U2 and Gladys Knight.
Whilst introducing the 45th inductees at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Biden made a subtle dig against Clooney, referencing his successful wife Amal Clooney.
"This year's Kennedy Center honorees, they're an incredible group of people," Biden said at the event. "And we, the people we see characters. We see Amal Clooney's husband," the room broke out into laughter and applause after this line. Clooney simply nodded his head seemingly agreeing with the statement. The president did go on to list Clooney's achievements after this.
Lebanese and British Amal Clooney is a world-renowned human rights lawyer who has worked on a number of serious global conflicts. Together with her husband, she co-founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice in 2016. They now live in England together, and in 2021 George spoke to Newsweek about his experiences settling into his new local environment.
Biden's quip had shades of a similar one-liner told by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler at the 2015 Golden Globe Awards when Clooney was receiving a lifetime achievement award.
Biden's joke went down well with viewers as the clip was shared and viewed thousands of times on social media.
"George over there like 'Damn right I am'," wrote Twitter user @jcalchemist while, @FighttForTanas wrote: "Oop, the drag but he wasn't wrong."
The 2022 Kennedy Center Honorees were Clooney, Irish band U2, soul singer Gladys Knight, Christian music singer Amy Grant and composer Tania León. Clooney received the accolade for his contribution to American cinema and culture.
44-year-old Amal Clooney attended the Kennedy Center Honors alongside her husband, 61-year-old George, on Sunday as he received his award. The event was star-studded with attendees including Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Ariana DeBose, Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher.
The annual honor is given to people in the performing arts whose work has contributed to American culture. Previous winners include Sally Field, Cher, Al Pacino, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Tom Hanks, George Lucas and Barbra Streisand, to name just a few.
The first Kennedy Center Honors were held in 1978 when Marian Anderson, Fred Astaire, George Balanchine, Richard Rodgers, and Arthur Rubinstein were the recipients.
While the event took place on December 4, the event will be televised and played on CBS on December 28.
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