E!: Amal Clooney is going back to work this week, ‘she has mixed emotions’

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Amal Clooney worked throughout her pregnancy. She was still making appearances at the United Nations while heavily pregnant (or what passed for heavily preg for her, because she never seemed that big at all). She was probably working from home a lot as she was traveling with George a lot in those months, and then they waited out the final months of her pregnancy together in England, where she was probably checking in with work regularly. Whenever I asked any questions about her work schedule in years past, I always got yelled at for not “knowing” that barristers can, like, make their own schedule and work whenever they want to and take off for entire summers if they so desire, even if they’re allegedly heavily involved with a dozen cases at a time. But sure, let’s say that Amal worked a lot through her pregnancy and that she went on maternity leave when she gave birth to babies Ella and Alexander/Sasha (I’m really trying to make Sasha happen). E! News says that Amal is going back to work soon and her maternity leave is ending.

Looks like Amal Clooney will be heading back to work soon! George Clooney and his wife have been enjoying the first few months of parenthood after Amal gave birth to their twins, Alexander and Ella, in June. Now, E! News can confirm the human rights attorney is getting ready to get back in the office.

“Amal Clooney is heading back to work this week,” a source told us, noting she will be attending a meeting, which marks her first work engagement since giving birth. Still, we’re told she plans to “go back slowly.”

Another source explained that it’s a bittersweet time for Amal.

“She has mixed emotions about going back,” the source said. “She has loved every minute of the summer with the twins and will miss them immensely, but she is also is looking forward to resuming her career work and getting back to it.”

And George is obviously right by her side through it all.

“George is very supportive of everything she does and knows she is passionate about her work,” the insider said. “He is excited for her and knows she will be able to find the right balance between being a mom and a working professional.”

[From E! News]

I admire her for sticking with her job even though she’s married to a very rich man and she could choose many different paths from here on out. I like that she’s not a “kept woman,” even though I’ve believed for a long time that George is financing her shopping habit. That being said, it wouldn’t surprise me if she did find a way to quietly quit her job, right? I’m not saying she’ll quit working entirely – it’s just that her position is with a London law office and I think George is already pretty bored in England. He wants to go back to LA.

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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73 Responses to “E!: Amal Clooney is going back to work this week, ‘she has mixed emotions’”

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  1. Nicole says:

    She could always move her base to NYC. She does a lot of work there.
    Seems normal though as many mothers have mixed emotions going back to work. My friend just started back at work after her maternity leave and has had a pretty tough week.

    • Tina says:

      You can’t be a barrister in New York. She is qualified to practice in New York (at least, she was) but she wouldn’t be able to do the work she’s doing from there.

  2. Backwards says:

    it’s tough going back to work after maternity leave. I hope she continues her great work, she doesn’t have to work in an office or keep billable lawyer hours.

  3. Nicole says:

    You’re incredible rude about Amal and it’s confusing. People were right to tell you you didn’t know she could work from home, but you continue to be dismissive and imply that she doesn’t work that much. Plus, finance her shopping trips? They’re married, she likes to buy clothes, he’s not financing anything, it’s a shared pot of money. I don’t know…your attitude towards Amal seems odd.

    • Lori says:

      I think “incredibly rude” is pretty harsh.

      • Kate says:

        I really don’t think it is. There’s a real tone running through the Amal posts here, and an insistence on ignoring easily verifiable information and brushing aside any and all accomplishments.

        I mean, look at the ‘funding her shopping habit’ comment. She’s not some fling, they’re a married couple. Most married couples share their money to some degree. Given he’s worth half a billion dollars, it would be really odd if at least a little of that wasn’t shared with his wife. But here it’s used as a dig.

      • Tulip Garden says:

        I agree with Nicole and Kate. I find the phrase “kept woman” to be derogatory in the extreme. Husbands and wives that do not work outside the home aren’t “kept” like mistresses or prostitutes. They are part of a couple that have decided how best to arrange their marriages.
        BTW, I am and have always been a work outside the home wife. It doesn’t make me superior or inferior to those with different choices.

      • Angel says:

        Tulip Garden: Exactly!!!

    • MostlyMegan says:

      I don’t get all the Amal negativity either. She is accomplished, intelligent and seemingly capable in a myriad of ways. And I think she is stunningly beautiful and carries herself with such poise. She is very much a woman, not a girl – and I think there is a lot about her to be admired. I don’t get trying to pick holes in her at all. I know this is a gossip site, but really are we going to gossip about whether George is funding her shopping trips? Or is it still a sham marriage? I wish them a happy life, I think they are an impressive, talented and hard working couple.

      • Holla here says:

        Well..Angelina and Amal don’t (didn’t) like each other. That’s why.

      • GiBee says:

        Yeah, outside of her Julian Assange work I think there’s a lot to admire.
        I don’t mind cattiness about celebs, this is cele-bitchy after all, but she hasn’t acted THAT thirsty. There’s certain other very thirsty girls that spend a lot of time in London these days that seemed to be fawned over endlessly.

      • heather says:

        Amen! I love them together and I am interested to see how Amal balances it all. We women have very few public role models to show us how to balance a career (that is not model or actress) and motherhood. I will be watching Amal closely and cheering her on every step of the way! And I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment that she does not have to work, but chooses to do so. Her husband is very, very rich and most women would just stay home and raise the babies – not that there is anything wrong with that. It is just that Amal deserves some respect.

    • lower case lois says:

      Amal is that you? That is why this site is called Celeb bitchy. If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen.

      • Tan says:

        Oh come on. This site does enough kid glove handling of their favorites, and non positive comments at site favorites are attacked a lot too. And despite its name, it does not unnecessarily shade or bitch about someone.

        This seems like unnecessarily shading someone because the OP might not like her.

    • midigo says:

      I agree. I think she is a great role model. She obviously deserves to be in the place she is now:
      – she was a respected professional and a highly educated woman before meeting him;
      – she is beautiful;
      – she learned very quickly how to rock a red carpet and play the Hollywood game without giving up on her personality and aspirations;
      – she has been smart enough to get George’s full committment both as a husband and a father (which had been a wild goose chase for a number of women in the past 20 years);
      – she is now a mother of 2 and she is young enough to bo back to her career without losing any opportunity for further developments.
      She is hardly a Cinderella. And George had been dealing with gold diggers for 20 years before meeting her, without any inconvenience for himself or his own fortune and career. I am sure he chose wisely and wisely manages his wealth.
      I mean, we are debating how marvellows Meghan Markle is and how happy we are that she is landing a Prince, still we throw shades at Amal because we are not 100% sure that she pays for her outfits?

      • MostlyMegan says:

        So well said Midigo.

      • the_blonde_one says:

        agreed on every point. I really don’t understand the attitude towards her, it’s demeaning to her and I feel complicit in that reading it. I definitely will just have to scroll only to the pictures on future articles about her (as obviously no one is forcing me to actually read this stuff).

      • Elisa says:

        I agree with you, especially your last statement. This site has been glorifying Meghan Markle possibly being engaged to Harry, an ACTUAL ROYAL (with two articles this week covering her Vanity Fair interview, one of which is from TODAY), as the best thing to happen to be planet since oxygen; yet Amal is a shopaholic famewhore who mooches off his money? Amal could bury both Duchess Doolittle AND Meghan in her sleep and win a court case the next morning, if she put her mind to it, but she’s the problem.

        Okay, then.

      • noway says:

        There’s the problem with the George and Amal posts, George has been dealing with gold diggers for 20 years, REALLY. Talk about some shade to his previous partners. Which by the way he picked them all too. Now if I go by your thinking George has had 20 years of gold diggers whom he picked, then why wouldn’t Amal be one too. Generally people are creatures of habit, and in your 50’s probably more so. Sure she may have had success, but not George’s level of power, and maybe she wanted more. Now I don’t think that, but this is one reason you get a bit of shade when it comes to them. It’s a pretty logical conclusion from your own comment about his previous relationships. People just don’t 100% believe it is for love. Part of it is he really sells it too much, which to me seems like he is trying too hard to convince someone of it, and bloggers and commentators are a bit skeptical to begin with. I really don’t see anyone covered on here who doesn’t get a bit of shade, unless we are all just oogling over some handsome guy.

        I have problem with all the people who like to belittle other women because of their career paths. Now if you want to criticize them because they do or say stupid things then I’m all for it. Still, why is a barrister so much better than an actress or model or for that matter a stay at home mom? I think Amal should feel free to do whatever she wants, including working 5, 10, or 60 hours a week or none. It won’t make her any less successful either way.

      • Nic919 says:

        I don’t think her looks should come into play in terms of why she would be a role model. It’s irrelevant to the issue.

      • katie says:

        Anybody who defends a corrupt president who also cheated in the elections will never be a “role model” to me. I’m from the Philippines.

    • Jayna says:

      Plus, I’m sure the designers and shops with vintage clothes throw a lot of the clothes at her for free or to wear for an event.

    • Amelie says:

      Yeah honestly unless George had gotten married to someone as rich as Oprah Winfrey, the comment “funding her shopping habit” would have been aimed at any woman he got married to. How many women are as rich as George Clooney? Not many. I just see the same tone I used to see on the posts in the early days when Benedict Cumberbatch was expecting a baby with Sophie Hunter and then got married. Those comments were so vicious and I was at a loss to why. Even if George is spending money on Amal (a husband spending $$ on his wife! oh the horror), she was doing just fine by herself before he came along.

    • Kelly says:

      Actually Kaiser’s criticisms are absolutely valid. Also, what has Amal actually done re work, what progress has she made with human rights? I am genuinely asking because I mostly read vague statements. I watched her give a speech at the UN when she was pregnant and it was underwhelming to say the least. She just looked down and read from a paper and looked up occasionally. I’ve seen attorneys in their first trial do a better job making a point. So really what are these accomplishments? I hope to hear some great things.

      • Nic919 says:

        She is really good at PR and getting her cases in the media. The actual legal work? She doesn’t do that because that is what takes time and can’t be done with online Lexis Nexis searches from a laptop at home in between trips around the world.
        The few times I have seen her give speeches, I have not been impressed, especially not if she is the “best lawyer ever”. She is okay at giving speeches, but I see less famous lawyers do far better in court and at CLE seminars.
        She is a not a dummy, but her legal skills have been greatly oversold.

  4. A Croatian says:

    I don’t know why but I feel every article here about Amal is cynical. To me she’s not a famewhore, but she carries herself well when she’s in public. Yes, it was annoying a while back when she was this “unicorn” woman, but now… I mean, has she done anything that was cringe-worthy? I don’t think so.
    Maybe for once we have someone who is genuine…?
    ….
    And, Swifties, please don’t reply to this with something like : “Yes, just like Taylor” 😛

    • anna222 says:

      Yes to this. I also get really tired of the lawyer/legal expert commenters who chime in to undermine her career. I think she does a job she cares about and uses the publicity she gets to draw attention to cases that might not be in the news otherwise. I don’t think wearing designer clothes and going to functions with your husband makes you a famewhore.

      • Tina says:

        I don’t mind her. She’s doing a perfectly good job at what she does. But she is in a unique position. Junior barristers, even those with private wealth, have to take cases all the time to build up their reputations. She is able to take time off, come back and she’ll still be asked to be the junior on prestigious cases by QCs. Most people aren’t in that position.

      • SoyFrappe says:

        “lawyer/legal expert commenters who chime in to undermine her career”

        It’s not to undermine her career at all. It’s just that people in the know are scratching their heads wondering why Clooney PR is presenting her as the unicorn rainmaker of all time when she’s a junior barrister, albeit a successful one.

        Oxbridge probably graduates hundreds of lawyers to top firms every year, and add to that the Ivy League ones and you’ve got thousands upon thousands of very promising lawyers who go on to do very well – just as well as Amal did. It’s not uncommon for young lawyers to publish articles and contribute to textbooks. And someone at Amal’s career stage before she got married would be putting in 60 hours plus each week.

        Law’s a pretty “flat” profession. You get a lot of successful, very competent lawyers. It’s not a rainmaker-type profession. Just questioning the deceptive PR messaging.

      • Nic919 says:

        People need to compare what she does to someone like Marie Heinen. Marie Heinen works her ass off and goes to trial. She has years of experience and also a great sense of fashion. She is one of the top criminal defence lawyers in Canada and a great role model for female lawyers. But I bet most of the people here have no idea who she is and that’s because she is not married to a Hollywood actor.

    • milla says:

      I do not like Clooney hence i cannot like Amal. But also, i have a problem with any woman who seems to be all about brains marring someone from HW. She is educated and she had a career. Now she is just his wife. Its just meh…

      • fubar says:

        I really do not understand your comments.

        I do not like Clooney hence I cannot like Amal. ???
        You can’t like her because you don’t like him?? Why not?

        Now she is just his wife
        No, she is not just his wife. She is and continues to be a lawyer and now a mother. And even if she chooses to be just “his wife” so what? Her life to do with she please. Nothing wrong with being someone’s wife.

      • Tan says:

        George is a A list movie star and any given day he will always be more well known among general people and his wife will be known to a large number of people as his wife.

        But that hardly makes her just his wife. She is his wife with good career, just not in glamour world. And that’s why she is not well known.

        Blame it on worldwide celebrity culture if you will but it hardly devaluates her.

      • the_blonde_one says:

        If she is ‘just his wife’, that is coming from you and your own problem. I definitely do not see her (or any wife) in that manner.

      • Jayna says:

        Just his wife? LOL She will never be a woman who is just a wife and sits around at home. Now, becoming a mom will alter her career to balance everything, but I have no doubt she is still driven and will work as a lawyer.. Also, they started a foundation together that is a very pro-active foundation.

        This is Amal in an interview when she was pregnant. So how is she just a wife? Also, I’m sure Amal is probably getting death threats. Yet, she took the case.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtRnY-4TVe4

        And last year, I thought she really handled herself well when grilled in the middle of her interview about accusations by government media of taking a case in her path for fame.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZC6kby9Ifw&t=71s

    • Phaedra says:

      Why even bring up Taylor in this post?
      Her haters seem more obsessed than her “Swifties ” do sometimes..

    • bgea says:

      Haters gonna hate, hate, hate 😉

    • SoyFrappe says:

      “To me she’s not a famewhore”

      Remember when she (probably on her mother’s advice) used to call the paps every week to do her fashion walks? Out about in New York in a sleeveless top while everyone else was in heavy coats, etc. George put a stop to that a while back.

  5. Jessica says:

    Amal scepticism is odd to me. Her career is real and she worked for it and she takes it seriously. She isn’t making peanuts either. As for her husband financing her shopping habit…it is a shared pot of money and one spouse often earns more than the other. So what? A lot of people seem to hate her because she likes the red carpet, and I’m like…so what? Seems like a celebrity spouse who doesn’t deserve to be bashed at all from my vantage point. 🤔

    • minx says:

      I agree with all of this. She had her career long before she met George.

      • L says:

        I also agree with you both. She had a good career, he had a good career. They’re both extremely wealthy and confident. They met, dated, married, etc. The only thing that’s changed since the start of their relationship is that she now has a Wikipedia entry, and the only thing that highlights is how much more we tend to value celebrity (however minor) over other careers no matter how accomplished which is a real shame.

    • Bob says:

      I don’t direct my skepticism at her, she’s just doing her thing. But it can be tempting to deflate the arguments that she’s some wonderful role model, or that I should think more highly of Clooney for marrying her.

      Look, the career she has is extremely class-based. She may be hard-working and intelligent, but you don’t get anywhere close to her position on merit alone. Family, connections, a certain type of good breeding, oh, plus, yes, what a striking visual figure. International law is full of posh do-gooders who put their beautiful brains to work on the big picture yet have minimal ability to connect with or care about the common people beyond the abstract level. It actually has a lot in common with Hollywood. It was an entirely glamorous career path for someone of her background. It’s not like she went into social work. So, yeah, I do laugh at people who see her as some superstar attorney when I think the average public defender does more good in the world.

      As for Clooney, he’s a twit. I appreciate a lot of his work, but I’ve never been invested in the idea that he’s a Man of Substance and there is something deeply cynical about his choices here. I don’t feel like I’m going out of my way to get up in his business, I’m just not buying what he’s selling.

      • Tina says:

        Now here I both agree and disagree. The bar is an extremely difficult career in which to make your way if you are anything other than white, male, posh and Oxbridge-educated. It’s not impossible if you are not, but it’s much harder. Her family has some money, and she’s beautiful. But she is not particularly posh – when I heard a video of her speaking I was shocked at how middle-middle class her accent is. So she has done well.

        She may or may not have ability to connect with “the common people,” we wouldn’t know either way from any of the work that she has done. Being a human rights barrister is more glamorous than the work that she was doing at the beginning of her career, as a litigator for a big New York firm, where you spend your life defending big companies. But it’s also legal work – you have to be good at it to get as far as she has done.

    • Common_cents says:

      @ Jessica have you ever known someone who craves … no, someone who would literally live off the flash from the cameras like Amal? It’s exhausting. They are always focused on him/herself and it’s boring. The conversation is one-sided, at best, with the person always looking to find something better off somewhere else. No one can take away her accomplishments, whether deserved or not, but she is still a whore for fame and attention.

      So, sure go ahead, I hope you find a friend like Amal one day and then you can report back whether this sentiment “A lot of people seem to hate her because she likes the red carpet , and I’m like…so what?” is still valid.

  6. teehee says:

    So, how does GEORGE feel if HE goes back to work?? Why is everyone inviting themselves to judge a womans freedoms when no one gives three sh!ts about a man working and not spending time with the family?

  7. Jussayin says:

    I really hope she doesn’t quit her job. She’s an excellent role model for women and young girls.

    • MostlyMegan says:

      So are full-time mothers. It’s nice that women in 2017 can choose either a career or full-time motherhood and be considered a successful role-model.

      • CynicalAnn says:

        I’ve been a SAHM for 20 years with multiple kids and I’m happy to have been able to do that. But I don’t feel remotely like a “role model” and I would be disappointed if my brilliant, hard working daughter picking staying at home over having a career.

    • lo says:

      Amal is a lawyer with PR mother,corruptted uncle and famous husband ,other than camera following her going to work …can you name me one case Amal was known for BEFORE clooney !”in her own right”
      or a case won after clooney !
      Talking to media alot and oxford degree not =role model

  8. marc kile says:

    Maybe she nervous about leaving George at home with the nanny.
    (Wink Wink Nudge Nudge Say No More)

  9. deezee says:

    Wow so soon back to work! I’d be taking the full year if I were her.

    • G says:

      Me too. I understand (and applaud) maintaining your own career, if that’s what you want. But she certainly has the means to enjoy a wee bit more time with the babies. As I would hope that George is, too.

  10. Barbcat says:

    Kids grow up so fast, why not take some years off if you can afford it?

    • Anatha A says:

      Because she can’t afford it in her career. If she takes of some years off her career will be done. That’s the sad truth for career woman. You can’t take off a few years if you want to get the top jobs and why shouldn’t she want that? She has the support of her husband and probably a few nannys and hosuekeeper, etc. She can be a great mother in her free time. She doesn’t have to spend every second with them to cherish them and see them grow.

      She is privileged enough to be able to do both and if she loves her job (which seems the case) she shouldn’t have to abandon it.

      • Barbcat says:

        I would rather watch my kids grow up than do any stupid career if I had the money. I always find it interesting that most older adults who had kids always say the happiest time of their life is when their kids were at home, growing up. What career is worth missing those few precious years with your children? Will your career love you? Will your career visit you in your nursing home? Everyone is replaceable in their job. But no one can replace you as a parent.

      • Yup, Me says:

        I was a SAHM for two years. It was a sweet and wonderful time. I would not do it again. I quit my job because I hated it AND because I couldn’t imagine leaving my child- especially not for a job I despised. I love my current career and my colleagues and if I had nannies and other in home support, it would be the best arrangement to support me in maintaining a career I love AND being a present and engaged mother and wife.

      • Anatha A says:

        @Barbcat No idea why you are so bitter. Every woman that has the means should be able to chose what is best to her. No one is replacing her as a parent. Being a parent doesn’t mean that you have to be around your kids 24/7. You wouldn’t expect a father to do so. Don’t put that pressure on a woman. Amal can chose how she pleases and her career isn’t stupid. You hated your job and you wanted to stay at home with your kids. Totally fine. Let Amal have her choice.

        A career can give you acclaim, reward you with praise and compliments, having an income you worked for is also highly rewarding in itself. Knowing that you don’t depend on your husband to support you, but while being a mother you are still your own person. Seeing your own achievements and getting aknowledged for you work. Not everyone is happy to live only on love of children. Some people and woman strive to get acknowledged by peers. That on top of work being rewarding in itself, if you found your dream job. Time you spent for yourself and on something you love doing.

        I think in Amal’s case it also is important to her to work for others who need her. She can make an important different in the lives of her client and helping others and knowing that you makde a difference is also rewarding. None of that can be given to her by her children.

        If a woman has a choice she should make the one that seems best to her and her circimstances and hopefully looking back she is happy that she made the right one for herself and her family.

  11. Cerys says:

    Good luck to her. She is a professional woman in her own right and if she wants to go back to work then it is her choice. That said, she is lucky to have a choice as most of us have to go back to work whether we want to or not so we can pay the bills.

  12. Nimbolicious says:

    I dunno…..as I’ve always made clear here I’m just annoyed by the two of them and have been since the big GF rollout. Maybe it’s that I don’t care for preeners. Or lives that seem a little too curated for public consumption. Doesn’t matter how accomplished or fab someone is or purports to be. Something just…bugs.

  13. happy girl says:

    She is blessed enough to do whatever she wishes. They are a very wealthy team. Live it up….life is short!!! Shop, eat, drink and be merry.

  14. TrixC says:

    Am I the only one who thinks she didn’t actually give birth to those babies? Seriously, I’ve known several people who’ve had twins and they’ve all been huge, Amal barely looked pregnant with one baby. I think they used a surrogate.

  15. BearcatLawyer says:

    My only issue with her career is that she is consistently painted as an international human rights lawyer when the majority of her cases are what most lawyers would consider international criminal law matters. The Elgin/Parthenon Marbles is fundamentally a international art theft case. She worked on Mohamed Fahmy’s criminal case in Egypt; he was charged with reporting false news damaging to Egypt’s national security, aiding and funding a terrorist organization (the Muslim Brotherhood), and operating as an unlicensed journalist. She is also representing the former president of the Maldives in his claim of unlawful detention. None of these are simple matters. She is obviously a well-educated and competent counsel. But I can understand why people who work for much lower pay and virtually no public acknowledgement in the decidedly unglamourous work of international human rights are a tad peeved in this situation.

    • Ash says:

      This is the part I’ve never understood. She is an accomplished barrister, but most of her cases seem to be about representing criminals.

    • lo says:

      You said it ! But Baria her mother PR BOSS is the one drawing this image

    • noway says:

      Too many people have derogatory views of criminal lawyers. Human Rights lawyer plays better with the public. My problem with them is they really are presenting the whole relationship as a PR person’s wet dream. Sure it could be real, and probably is, but why exaggerate and make it seem like a fairy tale. I just feel like I am being sold something, and I start to wonder why. As time goes on, I don’t think it is for anything other than maybe George’s ego, but it has always made me wonder.

  16. ash says:

    amal is livingg the life…. i would totally operate that way.

    Have you career, choose your projects, lighten your work load when you can, find time for love, have a financially stable husband who make arthouse films and adores you, dress up when you want, notietiry on important issues, awesome head of hair, 2 babies at once, live in europe….

    she’s awesome and im here for them….the above was noooo shade whatsoever