George Clooney 1, The Daily Mail 0.
Within hours of Clooney posting a blistering op-ed in USA Today, calling out The Daily Mail for its irresponsibly "dangerous" article that claimed Clooney was clashing with his future mother-in-law over religion, the British newspaper has caved.
It has issued an apology and removed the article in question from its website.
"We have family members all over the world," Clooney wrote of him and fiancee Amal Alamuddin in his editorial. “And the idea that someone would inflame any part of that world for the sole reason of selling papers should be criminal."
NBC London received an apologetic statement from the publication not long after Clooney’s went viral.
It reads:
"The MailOnline story was not a fabrication but supplied in good faith by a reputable and trusted freelance journalist. She based her story on conversations with a long standing contact who has strong connections with senior members of the Lebanese community in the U.K. and the Druze in Beirut."
Altogether now: Yeah, right.
The statement continued:
"We only became aware of Mr. Clooney’s concerns this morning and have launched a full investigation. However, 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."
The article claimed Alamuddin’s mother was Druze and objected to her daughter marrying the multiple-time Oscar nominee.
"The Daily Mail, more than any other organization that calls itself news, has proved time and time again that facts make no difference in the articles they make up," Clooney wrote. "When they put my family and my friends in harm’s way, they cross far beyond just a laughable tabloid and into the arena of inciting violence."
Editors of The Daily Mail say they wish to make amends.
"We have removed the article from our website and will be contacting Mr. Clooney’s representatives to discuss giving him the opportunity to set the record straight."
We’re pretty sure he already has.
