Catch-22 comes out on Hulu on May 17th, and George Clooney stars (in a supporting role) in the miniseries and he executive-produced it and directed a few episodes. They shot the series in Sardinia, which was probably a tax thing, plus George loves to be close to his home in Como, Italy. During filming of Catch-22 last summer, George was driving away from the set on a motorscooter when he crashed into a car. The video from the accident was horrific – George went flying through the air and he was immediately checked into a hospital. The official line was that George had no major injuries, but weeks after the crash, it appeared that he was still unable to walk unaided. He has a history of significant back problems too, and I’ve believed for some time now that he has chronic pain in his back and probably his legs too. Apparently, after the crash, Amal banned him from all motorcycle/scooters from now on:
George Clooney is opening up about his scary motorcycle accident while in Italy last summer that sent him to the hospital. The Oscar winner, 57, was traveling on his scooter when a car cut into his lane and crashed into him, flinging him into the air. Clooney was rushed to the hospital and later released without serious injury.
The father of two was in Italy filming his upcoming Hulu show Catch-22 when the incident happened. He revealed at panel for the show in New York City on Wednesday that his wife Amal Clooney banned him from riding two-wheel vehicles again, and fellow producer Grant Heslov’s wife followed suit.
“I’m not allowed to ride motorcycles,” Clooney said at the panel. “I got into a really bad accident. I hit a guy at 70 miles an hour on my bike. Got launched. And so that’s, I’m off of bikes. Grant’s off. We screwed up and our wives were like, ‘You can never get on a bike again.’”
I know he’s saying “I’m not allowed!” in a playful way to tell a story, but Jesus, that bugs. George is close to 60 years old and he should WANT to take care of himself to the point where he KNOWS deep down in his soul that he shouldn’t do the motorcycle thing anymore. Instead, he makes it sound like Amal is a wet blanket who orders him around. Amal is not his f–king mother. She’s his wife and partner and she shouldn’t have to tell him or order him to do something smart which will save his life.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Avalon Red.
The wife says no is basically mommy says no. No one wants to be the bad guy or lame so blames it on the wife/mom. Just cliche. But i bet he knows he can’t ride anymore.
My hubby is 48 and I have to tell him things he should know not to do as well…so, I think it’s a guy thing. They think they’re immortal.
I mean, my sister straight up told my brother-in-law that he had to sell his motorcycle when she got pregnant. my friend also told her husband that he had to stop riding dirt bikes when she got pregnant, and only let him start riding again when their son turned five. so… sometimes this is what happens. I don’t think his age necessarily means he can’t ride anymore, my father-in-law is 66 and just bought a new motorcycle and he has health issues. but I would probably tell my husband if he almost died in a motorcycle accident that I didn’t want him to ride it anymore.
My husband tore his ACL riding his dirt bike. Had surgery, recovered, went back out riding and tore the other. This was after a lifetime of serious riding with no injuries. I told him time to stop. He knew it but I think it’s easier to swallow if he can tell himself I’m the one saying no.
My husband has hinted/sighed wistfully around motorcycles since I’ve known him, and occasionally says he wants one, and my reply every time is a cheery “nope! Sorry, I don’t want to cash in the life insurance policy.” My dad had a motorcycle when I was growing up and was in a scary crash when I was about 17, and I’ve since known multiple people who have been injured or died while riding (including two people who fell to their deaths off of highway overpasses) so it’s a non-starter for me. I don’t “put my foot down” or “forbid” anything but that, because he’s a grown man and make his own choices, but that’s one thing I will NOT let go and will never get on board with. And I’m fine if he tells people “my wife says no.” Because I did, I do, and I will.
I think that’s the dynamic of marriage, right? One of us (usually the husband…lol) is thinking of making a bad decision and the other one has to say “umm..I don’t think so.”
And obviously they are adults who can’t be “forbidden” to do something, but because they respect you enough, they don’t do it.
Yeah, I don’t like that he’s making her sound like the “bad guy.” My fil got in a really bad accident when a deer jumped in front of him. He was in the hospital for weeks. Things happen and you got to be careful.
He is a man. In my experience men have a different threshold of risk when it comes to sports especially. When we had a kid, I almost quit skiing and my husband did adjust his risk taking in sports too, but not enough for me, so I have no problem saying I banned him from windsurfing alone. If he wants to go he needs to get someone else up in the water so in case something happens there is someone to help. If someone wants me to call a bitch for it, I don’t really give a crap.
I think you meant call me a bitch for it instead of what you wrote. But I love your version so so much more.
Yes. Thank you:)
Exactly! And most men in my experience really like the fact that as a partner you care enough about their well being to put your foot down and say “nope, that dirt bike is going on eBay” or whatever, especially if he’s had an accident. I think George is really just man-bragging about the fact that his wife cares about him lol.
Omg….the man IS 60 yrs old, if he wants to ride a bike, he will but likely doesn’t bc he knows the worry and fear it would cause his wife. Too early to be so defensive
Clooney and Brad Pitt are both trying so hard these days. Say anything, show up anywhere, anything to try to hang on to being popular/any press they can get. I’m tired of both of them. Try turning out a decent, interesting or better yet actually funny movie.
As for as the Clooney personal life….nope. Do not care. At all. South Park nailed Clooney years ago…the smug just rolls off of him these days. Such a cliche he has become.
“Try turning out a decent, interesting or better yet actually funny movie.”
He may have done just that. Every review I’ve seen of Catch-22 so far is laudatory.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/review/catch-22-review-1208497
Completely agree, he is so smug, and he tries to be funny in interviews and he just sounds like an idiot.
After we had our daughter I begged my husband to quit riding his motorcycle. This was discussed at a family dinner and my MIL and FIL basically overruled my objections. I quietly fumed but let it go. Then my husband got in a motorcycle accident . Thankfully he didn’t have any long term issues but it was a harrowing week. He chose do give it up after that. I’ve yet to have my in laws over rule me again but I won’t hesitate to throw this in they’re faces if they do….
Don’t hesitate, you’re right. And what a crap situation in which to be right. Sounds like he’s ok but how scary! 🙁
I had a similar situation and told my in-laws to stay out of our marriage. It was tense for a long while but SO worth it. Good for you!!
I don’t blame Amal for that. I’d do the same and so would my husband to me.
That’s…not how men’s brain work. So yes he had to be forbade to do it. I don’t look at it so much as Amal playing Mommy as Amal thinking more clearly about the big picture.
It’s such a ridiculous masculinity thing- he knows he shouldn’t be riding a motorcycle anymore, but rather than admit that, he blames his wife. Ugh.
It sounds better than blaming his back.
Try hard
I recognize that in this case it was the car driver’s fault, but I hate hate hate motorcycles. I’ve been behind the wheel of my car plenty of time when motorcyclists were zipping through lanes like it was nothing, acting dangerously. People need to be careful, and the risk on a motorcycle is so much more.
I just talk frankly about the patients of mine who have lost limbs or had muscle flaps or whom have died due to motorcycles. People always think it won’t happen to them. Statistically, if you own a motorcycle, you will be involved in an accident while riding it. How severe that accident is will be a crap shoot.
No one wants to be married to a vegetable. If my husband refused to get rid of his motorcycle, I would get a fat life insurance policy on him and constantly talk about what I will do with the money from his death payout. I’m a trauma nurse so I’m morbid AF and super jaded about death. He’s a jealous guy, the idea of me moving on as a rich woman with some young hot guy would be enough for him to roll that thing off a cliff and never wanna ride again.
When I was a kid, a trauma nurse told my friend that is she were to ever ride a motorcycle, to make sure she wears a helmet so it preserves her face for the casket. Probably not the most appropriate thing to tell a child, but it stuck with me and I don’t think either of us has ever ridden a motorcycle!
There’s a lot of motorcycles around here, and they do tend to drive pretty safely and usually in a big group, but there’s so many other idiots out there on the road, not paying attention.
I’m a rad/CT tech and worked in trauma, and now the VA. My husband has been banned from getting a motorcycle again. Like you, I told him that if he insists, he’s welcome to, but I need to see a gigantic uptick in his life insurance and an additional insurance to cover the cost of long-term care of his vegetative carcass in a facility, or else I’m gone. I’m generally not an ultimatum type of person, but I don’t budge on certain things (racism, sexism, violence, motorcycles, vaccines, smoking).
I totally agree with you. I hate that he’s making her out to be a bad guy, a wet blanket. And frankly, I don’t blame her for banning him from motorcycles! They have two small children and she’d probably like for him to be around for a while and NOT in chronic pain.
I wish he would have the balls to say: i quit riding motorcycles after my accident because it was a close call and my life is not about me anymore, it is about my kids. I want to see them grow old.
Is it so hard to admit, George?! I guess so… so you the nagging wife narrative to sound funny. #Failedattempt
I actually needed my husband to break me out of denial about skiing, because I was blithely talking to my brother about going to Idaho to ski with him, and he bluntly said, “you can’t ski anymore”. Not in a “I’m telling you what to do” way but in a “remember, the doc says you can’t do that unless you want a hip replacement immediately afterwards” way. I really was just being oblivious, and he really was just reminding me of what I already knew. I was crushed, but he was absolutely right.
Oh man, that motorcycle pic! Reminder that George used to be haawwwt.
I don’t know why but love a cape on a formal dress. Also now that she’s more comfortable being Mrs. Clooney, she’s really relaxed and stopped trying so hard fashion wise and it shows. I’ve really liked her looks lately.
I work in auto claims and yeah no effing way is my husband ever getting a motorcycle.
My father-in-law was 72 a few years ago when he got into an awful surfing accident. He was so lucky to walk away from it (a couple broken bones) they told him he was a centimeter away from being paralyzed. It had always made my mother in law nervous, but he loved it so she let it go. After that accident, she quashed it. No more surfing. He will go on and on about how it was a freak accident, no big deal, blah blah blah. But he’s getting older and she wants him around for a long time! Sometimes men just think they’re invincible or something, you know?
Sidenote now their son is the same way – he thinks I’m nuts for sending my mom the itinerary for a trip we’re going on next week. Just the hotel addresses and flight info. Of course I don’t expect her to have to use it, but now someone other than us has that info. That’s why we work though, I’m the planner and he’s flexible. Ugh. Men.
Ugh because this quote is being taken way out of context. My friend is an ER nurse, and he adamantly says that the most horrific, grotesque things he sees are motorcycle crashes. It’s not bossing someone around to say they are not allowed to ride a death trap.
I didn’t get any of this interpretation from these comments. Isn’t this the usual celeb stuff? Some sort of domestic chatter for the masses.
I think the key word in this story is “playfully”. i.e. don’t take it so seriously, particularly if Amal didn’t.
I have no problem with that. We relinquish things as spouses, when it for the other’s mental peace.
It’s all Pr bull anyway. None of it is real. He’s a grown man and he does what he wants to do. 🙄🙄🙄
I worked for the Paralympics at one stage, it’s true men think they’re invincible. Unfortunately the family, the medical system, people like me – we all see and deal with the end result of that thinking. I will say good 60% of the men we got through were as a result of a motorcycle accident.
In general men are used to someone else worrying on their behalf. They can offload the mental and emotional strain to a woman of worrying/planning/etc, first their mother, later their wife. It’s win win for them — they get to continue to act like children most of the time, and they get to blame someone else when they don’t. However, in this particular case, I do think that he is mostly bragging about how Amal cares about him (ie, she doesn’t just want his money).
70% of people seem to think they’re in a sham marriage, with a contract of some sort. I think that’s also partly why he brings her up so much.
Well, if that’s the case, Amal is right, she cares for her husband safety at least, but i believe in this case that Clooney knows that he can’t ride anymore and uses the wife as an excuse, trying to sound like a “gentleman”.