This week, the normally mum George Clooney wrote an opinion piece that addressed all unanswered questions about his private life: his engagement to British lawyer Amal Alamuddin, his and her families' relationship status, and his position on religious matters, BBC reported.
The opinion piece, which was published on USA Today on Wednesday, had Clooney shot down about the "fabricated" story on how Alamuddin's mother had disapproved her daughter's impending marriage to the actor for religious reasons.
It could be recalled that Daily Mail reported that a source had told them that the barrister's mother had been telling "half of Beirut" that she opposes to the wedding. Moreover, the British tabloid also points to the Alamuddin's religious background, especially Amal's mother, who is purportedly Druze.
BBC explained that the Druze are a religious sect with an estimated 700,000 members based mostly in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan. The group's beliefs are based on Islam, but also incorporate certain elements of other religions.
Although Clooney clarified that his fiancee's mother is not Druze nor was she in Beirut since he has been dating his daughter, the actor is more concerned about the implications of the religious angle of the story.
He wrote, "But this lie involves larger issues. The irresponsibility, in this day and age, to exploit religious differences where none exist, is at the very least negligent and more appropriately dangerous. We have family members all over the world, and the idea that someone would inflame any part of that world for the sole reason of selling papers should be criminal. I'm the son of a newsman; I accept the idea that freedom of speech can be an inconvenience to my private life from time to time, but this story, like so many others, is picked up by hundreds of other outlets citing the Daily Mail as their source, including Boston.com, New York Daily News, Gulf News, Emirates 24/7 and so on."
And 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," Clooney emphasized.
Clooney's concerns might have been based on the religious turmoil happening in the Middle East, and the actor seemed to have been protective of his new family and what should have been good news to anything that would dampen the matter.
Daily Mail, who had run the story, had since apologized and promised to run an investigation into the matter, BBC said. Moreover, the news agency insisted that the source was a "reputable and trusted freelance journalist," and that the information has been supplied in good faith.
"She based her story on conversations with a long-standing contact who has strong connections with senior members of the Lebanese community in the UK and the Druze in Beirut. We only became aware of Mr Clooney's concerns this morning and have launched a full investigation," the paper said.
