Here are some photos of George and Amal Clooney at the United Nations yesterday. They attended together to take part in UN roundtable regarding refugees, plus they attended President Obama’s final address to the UN (as POTUS, I would imagine that Obama might conceivably address the UN after he leaves office). Amal got some attention for her dress – this is Alexander McQueen, and the pattern of the fabric features butterflies, pocketwatches, flowers and more. If the fabric looks vaguely familiar, it’s because the Duchess of Cambridge wore a similar McQueen dress (with the same fabric) to the Wimbledon men’s final this summer.
Meanwhile, in the middle of Pres. Obama’s final appearance before the UN, the Brangelina-split news broke. While we should be thankful that no reporter asked Pres. Obama what he thinks of Angelina’s divorce filing, George Clooney was not quite as lucky. A CNN reporter had to break the news to George, so we got George’s #HotTake:
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce may have dominated Tuesday’s celebrity news cycle, but the couple’s friend George Clooney hadn’t heard about their split until told by CNN’s Richard Roth. Asked for his thoughts on the news about the couple while at the United Nations, Clooney responded, “What happened?”
When it was clarified for him that Jolie had filed for divorce, Clooney said, “I didn’t know that. Wow. I feel very sorry then. “That’s a sad story and unfortunate for a family. It’s an unfortunate story about a family. I feel very sorry to hear that.”
Clooney added, “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
The actor was at the UN Tuesday attending a roundtable with President Obama on the refugee crisis.
Clooney’s Fuego Take was surprisingly kind, although I found the video (below) and watching him say the words… it comes across differently. There’s almost some smugness/happiness? Which is weird because I always thought that one of the big reasons why George married Amal is that he wanted to have a wife more like Angelina Jolie, someone who would be taken seriously at United Nations roundtable discussions, you know? Brangelina was the model for him.
WATCH: George Clooney is stunned when CNN tells him Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt are divorcing https://t.co/Hos12fgCZp pic.twitter.com/h94ewdrMuo
— CNN Entertainment (@CNNent) September 20, 2016
When news of the #brangelina divorce hits during Obama's UN address pic.twitter.com/tzs3cqjiT7
— Maggie's Kid (@Maggies_Kid) September 20, 2016
Photos courtesy of WENN.
He looks relieved
No, he was put on the spot. No schadenfreude here folks, move along.
I agree. Good God, why would he be glad that acquaintances of his were getting a divorce. It’s horrible for everyone involved including friends. Me thinks this is just so we can have more commentary on the topic of the divorce.
Everytgubg about cloinet is smug
I think it was more like “WTF are you asking me for? Here?” versus any particular feelings about the situation itself.
That’s possible too.
Yep. That expression says, “you crack me up CNN. Here and now of all times?”
Seriously though, wth happened to CNN.
This is my thought, also. Amal’s discussing serious humanitarian situations, and the press wants a comment regarding a celebrity marriage ending. Not the time or place.
I think, considering George and Amal made a great show of holding hands at the Obama Rountable, their own perceptions of what’s appropriate (time and place) in a serious and professional UN setting are somewhat skewed.
I thought she looked pissed at the hand-holding. I know I would be annoyed if I was at my job and my husband wanted to sit next to me and act like a teenager. That’s some alpha male BS right there.
@ t.fanty, glad it’s not just me, I thought holding her hand was deliberately undermining, like she can’t handle this without his support – despite being a highly educated and very well qualified lawyer. It was certainly inappropriate.
i agree. it seems he is laughing how bizarre it is. also how the “reporter” is trying to put angelinas humanitarian work into it as if that would make the question more fitting at such a time and place.
That was my impression. The reporter took way to long to get to the point, and it was not an appropriate venue for the question in the first place.
I thought George was very gracious with his expressions and kind with his words.
That’s how it came across to me as well.
I think that I had the same reaction to the question as George, albeit at home. Who asks such a question at the UN? At a minimum, the reporter should have waited until George + Amal (and the POTUS, for that matter), left the building. I think that George recovered nicely under the circumstances, but it’s baffling that the reporter treated his appearance like a movie premiere.
Yeah, that was my impression of it as well. For all his love of pranks, George strikes me as a guy who has a sense of decorum. I suspect he finds it a bit ridiculous to be asked about his (possibly no longer so close) friend’s divorce at the UN, especially since everyone (him, CNN, anyone reading this story) would expect him to say some bland, gracious version of “no comment” regardless of the context.
That’s only reasonable explanation. Like he was bumped out to be asked about that at the UN meeting. I hope he is a better actor and would be willing to hide his smugness in case that is what he actualy feels. Or he wanted to display it to send a message to someone…
Well rumor has always been that Angelina and George really dislike each other which is why he and Brad do not hang out as much anymore. I bet they start hanging out again now
I’ve heard about the not so happy relationship btw Angelina and George.
Though the big hoo haa of Clooney and post-split Aniston flying on a private jet somewhere together probably stoked the fires.
It seems like they had the kind of relationship where they dropped all friends and focused on each other/kids – I think true friends will be there for them but it won’t be easy. I also think that she is not a friend kind of person – an observation not a criticism.
I watched the video as well. The way the reporter dragged out the “news” it sounded like Jolie may have died or sth like that. Clooney even lowers his head, maybe to brace himself. I got away thinking Clooney’s “smile” was more about relieve that it wasn’t something “worse”. When a CNN reporter asks you at a UN conference with a concerned face about fellow actors, I would assume sth tragic happened.
Birdie, I totally agree on your take of his reaction.
I also think his smile could be like “seriously that’s what you’re asking me? Here? Now?” And his smile is one of “ok buddy, you’re an idiot”.
I agree. It was a very inappropriate question to be asked at the UN.
He is smiling & smug he’s happy about the news he doesn’t look shock
Watching his reaction I get the feeling he was expecting a different question about them- maybe something about Jolie’s activism for Syrian refugees, etc and that’s why he had a sort of “here we go” look on his face and lowered his head.
Then he got the divorce news. Which by the way, he didn’t really seemed too surprised about. So my final take, he knew there were problems just not that she had actually filed for divorce.
Bingo
Agree, bingo plus 2
Not sure if he’s really being smug or just caught off guard and uncomfortable.. I can’t tell. His body language 🤔
I agree. He’s probably caught off guard but (like everyone else) understands instantly the magnitude of a story like this. That’s my take.
Right! To me it looks like the news came right out the blue and he really didn’t know what to say.
Same. I caught no smugness. If anything he’s probably like, “I just came back from an address on the most serious refugee crisis since WWII and you want a comment on Brangelina?!” But he came off far more graciously than I would.
I’m in this camp
I was so hoping you’d cover this because I saw the clip this morning and was wondering wtf? Was wondering what my celebitches think.
Either he’s pretending to just find out or he and Brad were never as close as they appeared to be. Or maybe they grew apart since Amaloony happened.
Maybe nobody actually knew…. strange that Brad didn’t even text him to break the news to him..
Brad was reportedly blindsided as well and he was probably busy fortifying himself, the kids and his family, plus trying to figure out how to deal with the sudden publicity. Either way, I think Brad and Clooney are the type of friends who love being around each other but can go months without a word between them. Theres also longstanding rumors that Angie has been the reason they dont hang often.
@ Naya @ SilverUnicorn-Yeah that’s possible especially since we’re now hearing that Angelina only decided a week ago to file. It does seem like their friendship is one that is constant, if not consistent. Meaning, maybe they don’t see each other regularly, but it seems like this would be major enough that Brad would tell his supposed BFF. But as you guys said, maybe he’s still trying to wrap his head around in it. He could be in shock or maybe he was hoping Jolie would change her mind and wanted to wait to tell people. Just seems odd that he’d let his close friends find out this way..unless GC was feigning ignorance.
They were never close, just friendly co-workers while making the Oceans films. They’ve both said that forever, but people just loved the idea of them both being BFF’s and it opens a lot of doors for tabloid writers, so it stuck. They’re friendly at awards shows but that’s about it.
Even during promo parties for those films and Burn After Reading, George was always off with Damon or Cheadle or Tilda Swinton. They never hung out in their own time, not even at the same work parties.
Agreed! People speculating a close friendship between these two are as silly as people on the Aniston baby bump watch. They had good chemistry in the Oceans films. That’s it.
I’ve found the “Angie is keeping them apart” narrative particularly odd because Clooney has always been far more bro-tastic than Pitt. Clooney would have his low maintenance arm-candy girlfriends, but even in his 20s Pitt was all about being influenced by the woman he was in a relationship with. Clooney treats women like props, Pitt treats them like people who anchor him and give him something to build on. Pitt’s relationships with women have always seemed more important to him, so the idea of him wanting to spend a lot of time hanging out with Clooney and his crew is a bit off.
Meh. No more silly that those who are emphatically saying that they are not friends, as if they actually know these two personally, as if ANY of us know the dynamics of celebrities’ personal relationships.
This is a gossip site after all, why are we here if not to speculate?
Yup. Don’t know why people keep insisting on the narrative that they’re besties.
i dont know but what else would he say? “i knew about it”? then he would get more questions. i doubt they are close, i think they even said that themselves but he wouldnt get into it anyway.
I think he could have just said “Yes this is a really hard time for a good friend of mine and in light of that fact, I’m choosing not to comment out of respect for my friend’s privacy.”
I mean, it’s not like Clooney isn’t well-versed in all things media. This is hardly the first time he’s been asked an unexpected question and if he indeed knew beforehand, then surely he would expect to be asked about this knowing how the media is and knowing that the news just broke.
Brad and Clooney are not close friends both of them have said that.I remember Brad saying he hadn’t spoken to Clooney in about a year,few years ago.They are not like Ben and Matt.
They were never friends yet Clooney invited them to his wedding? That seems like a strange thing to do if they’re not friends, especially considering there were only 90 people invited, which isn’t a lot considering how large the Amalooney social circle is.
Also weird for them to consistently refer to each other as “buddies” and “friends” in interviews if in reality, they are not.
Was there proof they were invited? Or was it Pitt glossing over something the tabloids were trying to make a case of? AJ and Pitt were filming in Malta at the time. Good excuse for not being invited to a wedding that was for a former work acquaintance and nothing more.
Both Pitt and Clooney have said clearly, many times, that they aren’t proper friends.
I don’t think anyone ever confirmed they were invited to the wedding? Someone asked Brad once why he wasn’t there and he talked about filming Beyond the Sea, but sort of skated around saying whether he was actually invited or not. Ben Affleck did the same thing. I doubt he was, apart from Anna Wintour who was there in a partial work capacity, Clooney invited his normal crowd and Pitt has never been a part of that group, even peripherally.
I have lot’s of old ‘friends’ from work and college. Very few are people I’d call to announce divorce news, or marriage news, or baby news. They’re people I catch up with when I see them, have a nice little time with and then don’t talk to again for 3 years.
Do you guys have links to where they both said that they aren’t actually friends? Because almost everything I’ve found on Google is the two of them talking about their friendship. I saw links that talked about a “falling out”, but in order to have a falling out, don’t you have to have a friendship to begin with?
And yes, it was stated many times that they were invited to the wedding.
They appear to have had a warmer/closer relationship years ago but drifted apart after Brad & Angelina got together – different priorities, passions, etc. It doesn’t sound like they’ve remained close but I bet there is still respect and friendship there and will shall see what happens.
Stated by whom, Kitten, the gossip press? The press had a field day speculating about who would be at that wedding, but no guest list was released by the Clooney PR machine that I know of.
If we are going to go there, where are the links that Angelina and Brad were invited to George’s wedding? There are many types of friends. No link to any story or video is going to convince me that either George or Brad have defined their friendship as anything. I think it is the gossip sites and fans who have decided to give them a bromance best buddy title. They might be, but who really knows. I have best friends for life that I haven’t spoken to in a while too. It happens when you get older and have families and careers that take time. The only thing this video most likely tells me is that Brad probably didn’t tell George about it. Although it is hard to tell because George’s reaction seem odd to me, not necessarily surprised. Then again Angelina didn’t seem to tell her family either and may have blindsided Brad with the announcement too so who knows.
He seemed half-surprised.
Probably they had problems already.
Seriously to ask a question like that in such place.. Ugh. But it’s been a story for years that Angie hates Clooney and how Brad loved to party with him.
I think that’s spot on. I often work with a bunch of models from Como who spill about the partying at George’s house in Italy- they say the parties are awesome, but sometimes orgy-like and always include pretty boys for Clooney. I don’t think they are making it up. Maybe Angelina hates the bearding and that is why they were the only celebrities who didn’t show up for the wedding to Amal.
Except she is very open sexually, seems like the last person who’d be judgy about this.
@tracking I think that may be exactly why she hates the bearding. She may think everyone should have the sex life they want and stand up for it and that it’s silly of him to not live his life the way he wants to without pretense.
What do you mean they were the only celebrities who didn’t show up to the wedding? Matt Damon was the only major celebrity who did show up.No Julia Roberts,No Leo,No Sandra,No Jennifer Lopez,etc
I guess Bono would be another major celebrity who attended.
Ha, ha knew it, all the hand holding for the world to see how in love he is, he is so fake, I hope one of those pretty boys reveal what he is really like some day.
I don’t think he other other friends of the former couple should be asked these questions by the press. But George is a pro so he was able to say the right things.
He almost couldn’t contain the glee
Correct
God we really are a pathetic society. It’s one thing to talk about this on a gossip site or the red carpet for the Golden Globes, but for the reporter to bring it up at a United Nations conference on one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time? And for me to not be the least bit surprised that he did? 🙄 Bring on the killer asteroid, I think we are just about done here.
+1,000,000 ad infinitum
Sigh.
And then to analyze second by second the body language trying to figure out whether Clooneys were happy or not about the news.
CNN did this before, Angie was on the network talking about refugees one year and the reporter asked about pregnancy rumors.She called the reporter out.
And sadly it will continue because they got what they wanted – everyone playing the clip. No matter that it’s inappropriate in the setting, as long as they get ratings and clicks!
I think it was partly the way the reporter dragged out the news (for someone who didn’t know the news it would have sounded like he was leading up to saying there was an accident or a death) and that Clooney couldn’t be 100% it was true. He said the right things but said them lightly enough that he wouldn’t have looked like an idiot if it was just a false rumour.
Also he’s been very clear that he likes Brad, but doesn’t know him that well outside of work. This is like hearing the co-worker who was in the next cubicle to you for a few months almost a decade ago got divorced. Sure that’s sad for them, but it’s a totally different reaction to finding out someone actually close to you is divorcing.
it really could be they’re not the BFFs people think they are
Holy sh*t, he does look a bit happy and smug (like he tries to revert to seriousness with difficulty). Rumors about him and Jolie disliking each other are looking true right now.
His comments definitely read better than they appear with his affect of expression in the video.
He seemed very uncomfortable to me- looking down, kind of stuttering, shuffling and whatnot. I think he was caught off guard, and trying to find the best way to answer a question that threw him off balance, while not fueling the fire or causing any hurt feelings.
I believe he wasnt surprised by the news, but surprised that it went public without him knowing it, and wasn’t prepared to discuss it right then and there.
Maybe he wanted a wife with similarities to Angelina BUT not being exactly like her. We have been speculating the rumors that George and Angelina were not that fond of each other quite a lot on this board, haven’t we? Just because he admires her humanitarian work, it doesn’t mean he likes her as a person.
I think he is absolutely happy at hearing the news. You see a smile on his face, esp. at the word family. Brad Pitt and Angelina were invited to his wedding and didn’t attend because they hinted his marriage was fake. He’s probably thinking – who has the fake marriage now!
Unless you saw the guest list, you don’t know they were invited.
George marriage is as fake as anything, Brad and Angelina had a genuine marriage that unfortunaley hasnt worked out, and George shouldnt be so smug about it, Brad has children and a real family unit unlike Georges fake setup.
I like to think that he just realithe won the betting pool.
Am I the only one that thinks it’s pretty idiotic to ask that question at that such an event? They are there for a serious issue, of course GC looked the way he did, I personally would’ve told the reporter wtf is wrong with you?
You’re not alone. CNN has lost it.
No, it was a completely inappropriate place to break the news to him – at the UN, at a round table on refugees, where the POTUS was going to speak. That was a bad way to blindside him. Clooney probably played it the best way he could. In the clip it’s obvious he didn’t even know what had happened to them at first.
Badly done CNN. They did this in the UN? Angie and Brad divorcing, while sad as Clooney said – is not up there with the Syrian refugee crisis. And I never saw Amal as an Angelina 2.0. Two completely different women, who happen to do different forms of humanitarian work.
Smugness or happiness? I found him on the video to be stunned and searching for words when he repeated himself. I think he was stunned. He honed in on what is sad about it. They have a family.
That’s what I saw
That’s exactly what I saw too.
But can we talk about how the last two dresses Amal has worn have been DuchessofButtons and now almost the exact McQueen the DoC wore to Wimbledon? Methinks the Cloonies are aming higher than “the next Brad and Angie”
He is ABSOLUTELY smiling. Micro expressions in his face give it away and he looked down during his comment to prevent a full smile. But we don’t know why he’s smiling. That’s important to acknowledge.
George always looks down. Have you seen his interviews?
To me he looks surprised and uncomfortable. I can see where you guys are getting smiling/smug/happy, but it looks more blindsided and no-time-to-process to me.
He is clearly smiling.
I agree. It doesn’t look like a happy snails though. It looks like a tight social smile. But I’m not an expert, so I might be reading it wrong.
That is what people do in an uncomfortable social situation – give a weak smile. It is a defense mechanism. He seems to be shocked and unable to process the news.
I would smile too to keep from cursing the reporter out for asking a stupid question.
My take is that Angelina has a huge rivalry/jealousy thing going on with Amal / Clooney power couple taking over as most intriguing/smart/beautiful/humanitarian couple in the world (or so they think) and her couple with Brad has been going downhill since then. She has been losing the spotlight to Amal even her actual humanitarian efforts are much more significant, and has not managed to regain her crown since. She and Brad decided to marry in August 2014 AFTER it was announced that Amal/Clooney would marry but got much less press coverage. Amal became a visiting prof at Columbia and Jolie tried the same prof gig but did not really succeed. On the refugee issue which his her pet project, Amal and Clooney completely stole her show and got a meeting with Angela Merkel. Then in September Angelina made a speech at a UN event in London and visited a camp in Syria to make a plea to the UN but Amal and Clooney manage to get invited at the actual UN with Obama on the topic of refugees. So I think she just lost it and is filing for divorce on the day of the UN conference to regain the world’s attention and also bc she is pissed at Brad for not playing the role of the power political spouse but just wanting to be an actor/artist.
In an alternate universe Angelina and Amal would be one kick ass power couple.
Angelina isn’t jealous of Amal on any level or what work they are doing.
Angelina has her plate full with her own humanitarian work. It’s not a contest. And each are tackling specific issues or programs. I saw another celeb at a camp trying to bring awareness.
Of course it is a contest, for positive press coverage, visibility, power and plum diplomatic assignments. Angelina had the upper hand for years and George scored a huge win with Amal and is now ahead. You dont think they actually care what happens to those refugees, do you?
Your comment is hilarious,thanks for the laugh.
Amal Clooney might pose as a humanitarian, but Amal Alamuddin had plenty of questionable clients on her client list. A career in international law does not mean “international human rights activist” unless you’re on George Clooney’s PR payroll.
Angelina Jolie is a true humanatarian who has been doing this for years, Amal is nothing but a photo-op since she married George, dont see her visiting refugee camps which they have by the way some of the biggest in her own country of lebanon, she didnt even do anything about the refugees who were right beside her in Como the whole summer, she is as fake as George is, they like talking, getting to meet bigwigs at the UN and trying to look important, completly fake as could be. Angelina is worth ten of her.
Look into Alamuddin’s past, look at her client list. International lawyer does not equal humanitarian. And the majority of the big leaps in her career have happened since she hooked up with Clooney.
I think he is laughing at the insanity of being asked such a stupid pointless question at a serious event that was dealing with stuff that matters.
Kaiser, I was hoping that you would comment on this, not just for Clooney’s reaction to the ludicrous questioning by CNN (really, what’s up with that???) at a UN Refugee forum, but also for the happy couple’s demeanor at said refugee forum before the microphones appeared.
Hand holding, at a UN refugee forum in front of POTUS? What??
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3798929/Obama-George-Clooney-eyes-wife-Amal-pair-hold-hands-roundtable-President.html
Also, I generally refrain from commenting on Amal’s wardrobe, but the UN is not the time and the place to emulate the Dutchess of Cambridge with a butterfly, pocketwatch, and skull (?) printed McQueen dress. We know that Amal has hundreds of suits in her closet. I don’t know why she didn’t break one out for this august occasion.
Finally, I think that we have a clue about what Amal intends to do with her “career” as this marriage progresses. The Clooney Foundation for Justice was created in June of this year (headquartered in Studio City, CA) to provide educational assistance for refugee children in Lebanon, among other services. In a way, foundation work is perfect for her, as she can advance the pretense (if not the reality) of humanitarian activism through the foundation while taking all the time she wants for vacations to exotic locales.
https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/bringing-education-to-refugees-in.html
They want attention (my opinion). I don’t think that dress was appropriate for UN and holding hands in a meeting ?!?
Come on, now. Give them a break. I’ve seen much worse behaviour around dignitaries by other celebrities (from the viewpoint of someone not from the entertainment industry, it was just mind-boggling and embarrassing to watch).
At least, in this case, one half (if not both) of that couple was/were actually doing something useful there and very likely contributed to the discussion.
And it’s not like one of them skipped an important/substantive (non-promotional) work obligation just to be photographed at the event, as in this couple was actually supposed to be there. This is a round-table on refugees, it isn’t just sitting in the back playing with your iPhone for a pap-op.
DSA, I respectfully disagree. While I can understand a celebrity behaving strangely during a chance encounter with a foreign dignitary, this is not their first rodeo. George was a UN Goodwill Ambassador for years prior to this marriage. Amal had a post-graduate fellowship through NYU Law at the UN, and served on a few commissions for the organization. I doubt that they were unaware of the protocol under these circumstances.
Also, image-building and humanitarian activism are not mutually exclusive. Angelina Jolie, the subject of many a post yesterday and today, is certainly a master of her image, if nothing else. While such publicity surrounding humanitarian endeavors can pay dividends in the larger community (in Angelina’s case, Kids in Need of Defense and other humanitarian endeavors), I have reason to be skeptical about at least Amal’s motivations, in light of her pre-marital work on the defensive side of international criminal cases. She wouldn’t be the first person to clean up her image as a legal representative of disreputable clients with overtly humanitarian work.
Finally, while I agree that they most likely did not “skip” another work obligation to be photographed at this event, I question whether an alternative work event existed for Amal, as she doesn’t appear to be at her office in London very often these days.
Awkward. I don’t think Brad even knew about the divorce, but even so, are Brad and George friends like that? I know they’ve done movies together, but that doesn’t mean they are THAT close.
Can’t wait for THEIR split.
Amal and Angelina would be the ultimate power-lesbian couple.
I love her dress! She looks beautiful. Do we know for sure George is gay? Why would Amal marry a gay man? She could have married a more powerful man who was straight.
Who is the collective “we”? Posts on the internet? I don’t know anybody who thinks he’s gay. He and Amal are on their second wedding anniversary. I actually think George is head over heels in love with her. Will they be together forever? Who knows? Check back in ten years, when all these celeb marriages seem to bite the dust. LOL
I also love the dress. She looks very pretty in the photo.
I’ve read various comments implying or saying he’s gay. By the “we” I guess I meant ppl commenting on celebitchy. I agree with you. I think he’s head over heels in love with her too.
No ,Amal could not marry a powerful man ,Amal was left by her french boyfriend of many years and he got married and ,she did have a fling or she wanted to but was bushed away by Eric schmidt actually her FB and twitter profil picture was taken at his place but he did not like Amal or was attracted to her ,till she met Clooney and made the idea of Power couple to him and that was that and he liked the idea because as you know Clooney is all about his image since he put his foot in hollywood 20 years ago.
before Clooney Amal was Middelclass who went to oxford with shady family members ,average looks ,bad style “that contenu just more expensive now “and average job just average lawyer who never won a case or did real victory ,it is all only media propaganda.
Just a quick aside — I was in Manhattan yesterday and it was 80some odd degrees. Not sure why she needed a coat per the picture from the DM. Actually appears to be 2 different outfits on the same day (shoes are different) in which case I’m done.