George Clooney calls on Demi Moore to 'stick with me' after Richard Gere quip

George Clooney was in classic George Clooney mode on Friday January 9, as he accepted the Red Carpet Visionary honor on behalf of the late designer Giorgio Armani at the 2026 WWD Style Awards.

As he made the acceptance speech, he began by praising his friend, and then joked: "I would argue that if anyone should be up here talking about Giorgio, it should probably be Richard Gere. I think the two of them put each other on the map, but since he couldn't show up and, you know, [expletive] him…." Watch the moment above.

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As the audience burst into laughter, George recognized his faux pas, joking: "We know that's the only thing that'll come out of this whole evening, you know that, right? I actually love him! Let's not... it's not anything, you know."

He then called out Demi Moore, who was also in the audience: "Demi, stick with me on this, will you?"

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Giorgio was an Italian fashion designer and founder of the Armani luxury fashion house, and is considered one of the most influential designers in contemporary fashion. 

He founded his own label in 1975 and played a hugely pivotal role in shaping celebrity style and red carpet fashion.He died from liver failure at his home in Milan, on 4 September 2025, at the age of 91.

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George went on to acknowledge Giorgio's family and friends, and shared how he was once at a dinner with Giorgio and Norman Lear: "But at one point Norman just does this thing he does… which is he would talk about the how extraordinary it is, how many miracles had to happen, the billions of things that had to go right and turn left and turn right for us for all of us to be here together.

"I'm very sad that he can't be here to see him being celebrated for this, so I accept this for the family and for his incredible group of friends and coworkers, and all I can say is I wish he was here to see it, but maybe he's watching so thank you."

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The honors celebrate the industry’s most influential figures in fashion and beauty. Held at the Regent Santa Monica Beach, the annual event brought together an A-list crowd dressed to impress, including Pamela Anderson, who was named the Beauty Icon: Style Trailblazer honoree, Hailey Bieber, Cameron Diaz and Cindy Crawford.

Demi was named the Fashion Icon honoree.