Hollywood star Richard Gere has branded US President Donald Trump a ‘thug’ and a ‘bully’.
“I’m coming from a place now… we’re in a very dark place in America, where we have a bully and a thug, who is the president of the United States,” the Pretty Woman star said while accepting his award at the ‘Spanish Oscars’ in Granada.
The 75-year-old moved to Madrid with his 41-year-old wife Alejandra Silva last year.
He added: “But it’s not just in the US, it’s everywhere… I read a really moving letter in the New York Times by a gentleman in Hungary, and he said it’s a slippery slope as to how this happens everywhere, authoritarianism takes us all over.
He continued: “We have to be vigilant, we have to be alert, we have to be energetic, we have to be brave, we have to be courageous, and everyone who is watching in the Spanish-speaking world and elsewhere, we have to be willing to stand up, tell the truth, be honest.
“There’s a place in all of our lives for basic kindness, for basic love and understanding, and to embrace each other.”
The International Goya was first awarded in 2022 with the previous three winners being Cate Blanchett, Juliette Binoche, and Sigourney Weaver.
It was created to recognise personalities who contribute to cinema as an art that unites cultures and spectators from around the world.