Some of you may have already heard the rumor that George Clooney gave $1 million to each of his 14 closest friends. Let’s find out the truth today.
On MSNBC’s ‘Headliners’ in 2017, Rande Gerber, Clooney’s close friend and Casamigos business partner, told the truth. Also, in a 2020 interview with GQ, Clooney finally addressed the issue.
The actor recalls, ‘Amal and I had just met, but we weren’t dating at all.’ ‘I was a lone wolf. We were all getting older. I was around 52 years old at the time. And the majority of my friends are my elder.’
Despite the fact that he was single at the time, he considered himself fortunate to have had a life filled with devoted best friends. He added that these gentlemen had always helped him whenever he needed it for the previous 35 years.
‘They assisted me when I needed help over the years,’ the heartthrob remarked. And over the years, I’ve been able to assist them. ‘We’re all best mates.’
‘And I realized that without them, I wouldn’t have any of this.’ And because we’re all so close, I just figured that if I get hit by a bus, they’ll all be in the will. ‘So why the bloody hell am I expecting to be run over by a bus?’ he laughed.
At the time, his film ‘Gravity,’ starring Sandra Bullock, had just been released and was a box office success. He’d recently received a large sum of money for it. He then decided that rather of saving them, he would share it with his friends.
The actor devised a strategy based on ‘Ocean’s Eleven.’ Clooney picked up $14 million in cash from a Los Angeles warehouse renowned for having “huge pallets” of cash in a van with ‘Florist’ painted on one side.
He then proceeded to pack each of 14 Tumi cases with $1 million. Then he called his closest friends, whom he refers to as ‘The Boys,’ and invited them to dinner the next day.
The actor narrated, ‘And I just held up a map and I just pointed to all the locations I got to go in the world and all the things I got to see because of them.’ Let’s see what Gerber recalls about the lovely memory.
‘Listen, I want you all to know how much you’ve meant to me and how much you matter to me in my life,’ he remembers George saying.
‘When I first arrived in Los Angeles, I slept on your couch. I’m so fortunate to have all of you in my life, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without you.
So, while we’re all still here together, it was critical to me that I give back. As told by Gerber, Clooney added, ‘So I want you all to unzip your baggage.’
Everyone was stunned when the luggage were unlocked. To top it off, the actor claimed that they had already paid their taxes. What an incredible man.
‘One was working at an airport bar in Texas, trying to support his family,’ Gerber explained. ‘Every day, he rides his bicycle to work.
These are the folks that looked after George, and now he’s returning the favor.’ As a wealthy businessman, Gerber attempted to return the cash.
Clooney, on the other hand, refused, saying, ‘I’m only going to make one announcement.’ Nobody gets their money unless Rande takes the million dollars.’ Instead, Gerber donated it all to charity.
The cosmos then cooperated to give back to the Hollywood superstar just over a year later. On September 27, 2014, he married Amal Clooney, a human rights lawyer.
Decent things do definitely find their way to good people. George Clooney deserves a standing ovation for his beautiful heart!