George Clooney and me: One for the gossips mags Peter FitzSimons

[size=39]George Clooney and me: One for the gossips mags
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Peter FitzSimons
Columnist and author[/size]

March 3, 2020 — 12.00am










You have to feel for the gossip mags. Back in the day they could print anything – and I mean anything about Princess Diana – and not only would the issues sell out, but the princess had no recourse.
My favourite of the genre was a Woman’s Day "exclusive" interview about 25 years ago with Diana’s secret lover – actually one of about 500 of them, as it turns out, according to the number of gossip mag revelations in this field. This dashing cavalry officer declined to give his name for discretion’s sake, and begged the Woman’s Day journo not to tell anyone of their chat, but was still happy to meet the journo in a wine bar in the West End.

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[size=15]The gossip mags have never found a money spinner like Diana, Princess of Wales. [size=11]CREDIT:AP[/size]

After describing how they met through a friend, we were all treated to a blow-by-blow account of how it all warmed up from there. “We went to lunch the very next week. I took her to a small Italian restaurant – not the usual ones where she is known.”
The lunch went well! “Afterwards, she suggested we go for a walk in the park, and we walked around Kensington Gardens.” Less known as a discreet place to for the most famous woman in the world to parade her secret lover, but look ... “While everything remains secret, we both feel we are safe,” he told our favourite mag. “The last thing I want to do is ruin everything for her. She has been through hell.”[/size]



As I wrote at the time, I thought Di might be a bit dark about her lover spilling his guts to Woman’s Day – not well known for keeping secrets – but there you go. That particular issue sold out and Princess Diana never uttered a peep.

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The sad part, of course, for the magazines is that after Diana died – due in no small part to being pursued so frantically by the magazines’ paparazzi – there has never been another rolled-gold seller remotely like her.
But by gee they try! I say this because just last week a headline caught my eye from New Idea. Jen and Brad: Bringing home their baby! Yes!
“They picked a very sweet and simple name with a special meaning: Georgia,” New Idea quotes, you guessed it, a “source” before revealing that the name was inspired by pal George Clooney who played an integral role in getting them back together.

“Starting a family of their own was always a dream of theirs that was never realised,” New Idea reveals. “Until now. They can’t wait to finally bring home a baby – their baby. It’s a miracle!”
Geez, I reckon it is. I mean, George Clooney is a fast worker, but this fast? See, only a month ago the very same magazine, and I am not making this up, ran with the story that "Brad Dumps Jen For Charlize!" after they had previously got together following meeting up at the Golden Globes. So, friends, in the space of just a few weeks, to believe New Idea, Brad has first got back together with Jen, then dumped her for Charlize Theron, then got back with Jen – and now they are going to adopt a baby! No wonder New Idea says of the whole thing “Well that escalated quickly!”

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George Clooney helped Jen and Brad get back together - or so the gossip mags would have you believe.CREDIT:AP

I should certainly say so. And already they are up to their eyeballs “organising the paperwork”, for the adoption. (Me? I would have thought the adoption agencies a little reluctant to hand over a baby to a couple who’ve got together, broken up, and got together again all in the space of eight weeks, but maybe it’s different for Hollywood celebs.)
On a more serious note: ARE THEY FREAKING KIDDING? And ...WHO KEEPS BUYING THIS COMPLETE BOLLOCKS?

The first answer is, no they are not freaking kidding and all such stories – as they have been for nigh on 30 years – are simply part of a calculated business model which sees a series of famous names and faces put through never-ending relationship changes, contortions and double-back-flips to keep the gullible public entertained, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with reality.
And the second answer is: enough people buy it for this business model to keep working and making money even though the profits are a fraction of what they used to be.

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The whole thing is topical right now because for once, the Press Council has actually entered the arena and last week rebuked, Woman’s Day, whose owner Bauer Media is a Press Council member, for running with a headline blaring: “Palace confirms the marriage is over! Why Harry was left with no choice but to end it.”
The Press Council admonished: “While an entertainment publication can be expected to use some exaggeration, the headline was expressed as an unqualified fact that the palace had confirmed the marriage was over. The council considers that the statement in the headline was such that it was more than just an exaggeration, and that it was misleading.” No! Don’t say it!

But here’s the nub: “The council acknowledges that celebrity and gossip magazines are purchased for light entertainment, with readers not necessarily assuming that everything presented is factual.”
So it is for those celebs to lighten the hell up yes, and cop it sweet? Nuh.
It is for the Press Council to say, as a bare minimum, if the content you put out there is such embarrassing nonsense, week after week after week, you magazines have no part of being part of the Press Council in the first place.
And it is for the rest of us to recognise and call it out for what it is: complete trash that gives even tabloid journalism a bad name. If you need me, I’ll be having a quiet little lunch with my pal George Clooney in a quiet Sydney restaurant where he is not known. We will be discussing, and I am not making this up, his big move into the American presidential race.

Interesting...

Says it all, and ends in funny sarcastic stuff he hopes people will believe. Very droll.

Hilarious! ...and dead on point.

You've got to wonder about the readers of these gossip magazines, don't you? I mean, they're either incredibly dumb to believe the constant mutations of relationships ('they're dating!', 'she's pregnant!', 'he's cheating!', 'they've split up!', 'they're dating again! ad infinitum) or, there's something really weird about reading so-called gossip that you already know isn't true. Why would one do that?

Maybe they don't have the attention span to read an actual book, so this is their dose of fiction for the week.

I think the old adage misery love company goes along with this. Some people are miserable and I think the thought of a celeb who has everything being unhappy makes them feel good.

You also have people who don't like George and no matter what he does they will not like him. So believing all the lies makes their dislike of him all the more right.

It is simply sad that people are so willing to believe lies, over someone like George who is saying I am happy with my wife and my kids. The simple truth is George doesn't have to say anything about his family, just the way he didn't talk about his girlfriends in interviews. That tells me that he is happy and wants to share that with his fans.