George Clooney confirms the rumor that he thanked 14 long-time friends for their support with $ 1 million each.
Hollywood star George Clooney (59, "Money Monster") gave 14 of his closest friends one million US dollars each (currently around 840,000 euros) in cash. The US star has now confirmed this in an interview with "GQ" magazine on the occasion of his election as Icon of the Year.
Clooney revealed that he invited his friends – a group known only as "The Boys" – to his home in 2013 and gave each of them a suitcase with the money. The only confirmed recipient is therefore his longtime friend and business partner Rande Gerber (58) – the husband of ex-supermodel Cindy Crawford (54).
He was single and didn't need the money
Clooney said he made this generous gesture shortly after receiving his fee for the seven-time Oscar-winning film "Gravity" (2013). At that time he was single and had no plans to start a family. "I thought I will never get married. I will not have any children. I will work, I have great friends, my life is fulfilled, I am fine," said the US star.
Those so rich had "helped him in one way or another over a period of 35 years," explains Clooney. "I thought without them I wouldn't have any of this. And we're all very close, and I just thought if I got hit by a bus they'd all be in the will … But why the hell am I waiting for it to be run over by a bus? "
The irony of the story: Exactly one year to the day after the money was handed over, on September 27, 2014, he and the British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Alamuddin (42) married. They have been the parents of twins Ella and Alexander Clooney since early summer 2017. "I didn't know how empty it was until I met Amal. And then everything changed," he added in the interview.