George Clooney Says He’s ‘Marrying Up’

We have all been thinking nonstop how lucky Amal Alamuddin is to be the one who finally tamed the wild bachelor beast that is George Clooney. But the actor and legendary heartthrob is stating, for the record, that it is the other way around. When asked by Variety about his engagement to the activist-lawyer-author, the charming 53-year-old actor said, “I’m marrying up.” The couple was engaged in April of this year, a proposal heard ’round the world. Clooney presented Amal, 36, an emerald-cut diamond engagement ring, estimated at more than 7 carats and which he helped design. Clooney and Alamuddin had been seen jet-setting around the globe together and began being photographed as a duo in October 2013.

Clooney also spoke up about his dispute earlier this month with London’s Daily Mail publication. “It’s just fun to slap those bad guys every once in a while, knock ’em around,” he quips. A few weeks ago, the publication stated in an article on their website that Clooney’s soon-to-be mother-in-law didn’t approve of his marriage. The article said that the reasoning for the disapproval was due to religious differences and stated that she had been outspoken about these misgivings to her friends in Beirut.

Clooney responded by releasing a long statement to USA Today refuting the article and condemning the Daily Mail for publishing inaccurate information. The actor also claimed, rightfully so, that the article might even stir religious tensions that could actually be potentially dangerous for his family and fiancé. Clooney acknowledged that he doesn’t often respond to what is written about him in the media, a mantra many famous people live by.  “I would sit with my friends and we’d just go, ‘So they just sat at a computer and just went, ‘OK, this is what I’m gonna say today.” …You just laugh, and let it go,”  he told Variety. “I’m used to it after all these years. But the thing that bothers me is how much the Daily Mail is now bleeding into American press and becoming a source for some pretty legitimate newspapers.”

The Daily Mail published a retraction saying, “We accept Mr. Clooney’s assurance that the story is inaccurate and we apologize to him, Miss Amal Alamuddin and her mother, Baria, for any distress caused.” 

(Lead Photo by Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)