He has consistently voiced his commitment to advocating for their repatriation, a cause he first backed publicly in 2014. In a recent interview with the newspaper “Ta Nea,” which was also featured in the Daily Mail, Clooney expressed with assurance, “They will return. I know it,” noting that both he and his wife, human rights attorney Amal Clooney, “will keep up the pressure until it happens. There is no doubt.”
His involvement comes at a critical moment as negotiations unfold between the Greek government and the president of the British Museum, George Osborne, concerning the future of the marbles. These marbles were taken from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin in the early 1800s and have been displayed at the British Museum since 1817.
Despite the constraints of British law, particularly the British Museum Act of 1963, which prohibits the permanent removal of items from its collections, Clooney remains steadfast. He remarked, “Many historical objects should be returned to their rightful owners, but none are as significant as the Parthenon Marbles,” in a letter to Janet Sassoon, chair of the British Committee for the Restitution of the Marbles.
Recently, Clooney reiterated his stance to his wife, reaffirming his conviction that “the Parthenon Marbles should go back to their original owner.” His comments were made in New York, where he is currently starring in the theatrical adaptation of “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
His initial public statement on this issue emerged in February 2014 while promoting the film “The Monuments Men” in Berlin, which addresses the Allies’ efforts to restore artwork looted by the Nazis. At that time, Clooney proclaimed, “Returning the Marbles to Greece is the right thing to do.”
This position drew scrutiny from then-London Mayor Boris Johnson, who mockingly suggested, “Someone should urgently return Clooney’s own marbles,” accusing him of “advocating a Nazi-like agenda for London’s cultural artifacts.” Clooney countered with sarcasm, labeling Johnson’s remarks “drunken exaggerations.”
In the same year, Amal Clooney was part of a team of legal experts who produced a comprehensive 600-page report proposing that Greece reclaim the marbles legally. Although these proposals were not adopted, the content was published in a book titled “Who Owns History?” which Amal described as a “call for justice,” underlying the case for the marbles to be reunited in Athens permanently.
The British Museum maintains that Lord Elgin acted with the legal approval of authorities in both Athens and London. Curators argue that “the marbles provide significant benefits to the public as part of the Museum’s global collection.” They also stress that Greece has never submitted an official loan request, only asking for the marbles’ full and permanent return, which contradicts existing legal frameworks.
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