George Clooney writes open letter to publication to not post his children's pictures (Source : indiatimes.com)
The Oceans Eleven actor George Clooney recently issued an open letter on November 4th, 2021 to the Daily Mail and other media outlets requesting them not to post pictures of his and Amal Clooney’s children. The letter comes after the media outlet posted the picture of actor Billie Lourd’s one-year-old child without consent but was later removed.
The actor wrote, "Having just seen photos of Billie Lourd's one-year-old baby in your publication, and the fact that you subsequently took those pictures down, we would request that you refrain from putting our children's faces in your publication. I am a public figure and accept the oftentimes-intrusive photos as part of the price to pay for doing my job. Our children have made no such commitment. The nature of my wife's work has her confronting and putting on trial terrorist groups, and we take as much precaution as we can to keep our family safe. We cannot protect our children if any publication puts their faces on their cover. We have never sold a picture of our kids, we are not on social media, and we never post pictures because doing so would put their lives in jeopardy. Not paranoid jeopardy, but real-world issues, with real-world consequences. We hope that you will agree that the need to sell advertisements isn't greater than the need to keep innocent children from being targeted.
Thank you,
George Clooney"
Amal Clooney is a Lebanese-British barrister at Doughty Street Chambers who specializes in international law and human rights. Amal is also the co-founder with her husband and actor George Clooney of the "Clooney Foundation for Justice". The couple got married in 2014 and welcomed twins Ella and Alexander in 2017.
George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin got married in 2014. Image Source: Vanity Fair
George Clooney had previously rejected an apology by the Daily Mail, a British-based tabloid that printed a false story about Amal Clooney’s mother, Baria Alamuddin, stating that she had opposed the marriage of her daughter to the actor due to religion. Later, the publication apologized for printing the story but claimed that the information was supplied in good faith and was based on conversations with a long-standing contact.
The 60-year-old actor mentioned later that the Daily Mail lied about its source and wrote, "There is one constant when a person or company is caught doing something wrong. The cover-up is always worse. The original story never cites [the] source, but instead goes out of its way to insist on four different occasions that 'a family friend' spoke directly to the Mail. A 'family friend' was the source. So either they were lying originally or they're lying now. What separates this from all the ridiculous things the Mail makes up is that now, by their own admission, it can be proved to be a lie. In fact, a premeditated lie. I thank the Mail for its apology. Not that I would ever accept it, but because in doing so they've exposed themselves as the worst kind of tabloid. One that makes up its facts to the detriment of its readers and to all the publications that blindly reprint them."
With this open letter, George Clooney joins the list of celebrity parents who have been vocal and asked publications and media outlets to stop posting their children’s pictures. Celebrity parents include Mindy Kaling, Mila Kunis, and Ashton Kutcher, Kristin Bell and Dax Shepherd, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik, Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas, and Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, etc.
"I'm on social media and like sharing with people what my interests are and how my day's going and all of that, but I do feel entitled to privacy regarding my kid and my relationships," Mindy Kaling said of her daughter Katherine's privacy.
In July, Gossip Girl actor Blake Lively slammed the Daily Mail Australia for publishing photos of her children on their official children's page, despite her and husband Ryan Reynolds' repeated pleas that their children not be photographed. The newspaper shared the picture collage of Blake Lively’s children’s faces. According to Just Jared, the collage portrayed James and Inez in a stroller as Blake had Betty in her arms. Another shot showed her smiling cheerfully and waving at the photographers, according to the report.
"You edit together these photographs to look like I'm joyously waving," the A Simple Favor actor wrote in the comments section of the article. "That, however, is dishonest. The truth is that a man followed my children all day. I'm jumping out of my skin. Then there's the hiding. Because it was so terrible for her to see, a stranger on the street got into an argument with them. When I tried to approach the photographer you hired to take these photos and chat with him gently, he would flee. "And then jump out at the next block. "
Blake Lively called out the publications to stop posting the pictures of her children. Image Source: 1news info
Sophie Turner of Game of Thrones retaliated against photographers who shot her daughter, Willa Jonas, without her permission in a similar incident. "I am not publishing pictures of my baby and making sure that we can avoid photographers at all costs is because I explicitly do not want such photos out there," she said in a video.
Gigi Hadid called out publication to request to honor her daughter Khai's privacy. Image Source: Yahoo News
Model-actor Gigi Hadid also penned an open letter in July via her Instagram Stories and requested the paparazzi to honor her daughter Khai’s privacy and not share photos of her face. The model wrote in her story, "I know the laws change from state to state [in the USA], and I’ve seen some paparazzi photos of kids in NYC with their faces blurred — but, from asking around, I believe that comes down to the integrity of the photographer, publications of fans sharing the image... Our wish is that she can choose to share herself with the world when she comes of age and that she can live as normal of a childhood as possible... I hope this can continue the conversation to protect minors in the media."
Representative from the Daily Mail or any publication has not responded to George Clooney’s request yet.
