George Clooney to tabloid: Your paparazzi pics could put my twins’ lives in jeopardy
George Clooney doesn’t believe in “sharenting” photos of his twins. Not because he’s not a proud dad, but because he’s actually worried about his family’s physical safety.
The globally recognized star issued an urgent plea Thursday to protect 4-year-old Ella and Alexander, whom he shares with international law and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. In the open letter obtained by The Times, the “Midnight Sky” star and director addressed the Daily Mail and other publications to request that they “refrain from putting our children’s faces” in their publications.
His directive, he wrote, comes after the Daily Mail published photos of actress Billie Lourd’s 1-year-old son Kingston, the great-grandson of late Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds and the grandchild of late “Star Wars” veteran Carrie Fisher. The publication has since blurred the baby’s face in several images.
“I am a public figure and accept the oftentimes intrusive photos as part of the price to pay for doing my job,” Clooney, 60, wrote in the letter. “Our children have made no such commitment.”
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The two-time Oscar winner, whose children have repeatedly appeared in paparazzi photos run by the Daily Mail, also explained how publicizing the children could pose risks for them and the family due to Amal’s line of work.
“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,” he wrote. “We have never sold a picture of our kids, we are not on social media and never post pictures because to do so would put their lives in jeopardy. Not paranoid jeopardy but real world issues, with real world consequences.”
Clooney said he hoped they could agree that “the need to sell advertisement isn’t greater than the need to keep innocent children from being targeted.”
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The film star isn’t the only celebrity making such requests. The late Michael Jackson used to have his young children wear elaborate face coverings while they were out in public. Celebrity couple Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard urged a boycott on celebrity-kid photos back in 2014 and have regularly concealed their kids and other children’s faces in social media posts.
More recently, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have also taken such measures, with the “Gossip Girl” alum going after a paparazzi account on Instagram last month for posting, without her consent, images of them walking with their three daughters.
“This is so disturbing,” Lively wrote in the comments of the since-deleted post, according to USA Today. “I’ve personally shared with you that these men stalk and harass my children — and you are still posting. You said you would stop; you personally promised me.
“This is not casual appreciation: This is you also exploiting very young children. Please delete, please.”
Read Clooney’s letter in full:
An open letter to the Daily Mail from George Clooney.
An open letter to the Daily Mail and other publications.
Having just seen photos of Billie Lourd’s 1 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 never post pictures because to do so would put their lives in jeopardy. Not paranoid jeopardy but real world issues, with real world consequences.
We hope that you would agree that the need to sell advertisement isn’t greater than the need to keep innocent children from being targeted.
Thank you
George Clooney
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