this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2025
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Europe

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[–] Zacryon@feddit.org 21 points 6 hours ago

Lucky for them to be prominent and not coming from south of the mediterranean sea. Otherwise they would have drowned and nobody would care.

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 53 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

β€œHere, they don’t take photos of kids. There aren’t any paparazzi hidden at the school gates. That’s number one for us,” he said.

I can't blame the guy one bit. Those leeches are scum.

[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 26 points 8 hours ago

Yeah, you don't need to be a celebrity with kids to empathize with that one

[–] witty_username@feddit.nl 16 points 7 hours ago

Do they pay taxes?

[–] mjr@infosec.pub 8 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Any idea how they qualified? Is there some special law for the rich?

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 13 points 5 hours ago (3 children)

some special law for the rich?

I assume that there are even special lawyers for the rich :-)

But of course it is also legally possible for normal people to become French.

[–] mjr@infosec.pub 1 points 1 hour ago

But of course it is also legally possible for normal people to become French

Of course, but George Clooney doesn't obviously meet the 5-year residence length or B1 language level requirements shown on the government page for French naturalization by decree | Service Public. And from Thursday, he would have needed to pass a history and culture exam too.

All credit to him if he did it fair and square, without special exceptions.

[–] CluckN@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)
[–] SeductiveTortoise@piefed.social 8 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I guess one hurdle in becoming a citizen would be the government fearing you becoming a burden. Being filthy rich might help.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I assume normal people have to learn the language and the laws and the history and probably take some tests.

Do rich people get to skip all that? (Because they will pay more taxes and spend more to contribute to the economy?)

Your guess is as good as mine. But I understand that you don't want to have citizens that can't provide for themselves, so riches at least help. And being a beloved actor might help as well.

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 18 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (2 children)

According to the article, they mostly seem to live in France (for several years now?) and his wife is fluent in French. He is also learning the language. Usually, these two aspects are important criteria for granting citizenship.

[–] darkdemize@sh.itjust.works 23 points 6 hours ago

Being wealthy and connected certainly doesn't hurt either.

[–] mjr@infosec.pub 12 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

Article says only that they bought the home in 2021 and that "the family travels frequently", which sounds like both not long enough residency and too many absences for a normal person's citizenship. Also it says he is still poor at the language after many lessons.

[–] Serinus@lemmy.world 10 points 5 hours ago

he is still poor at the language after many lessons.

Getting old sucks.