George Clooney had ‘apoplectic’ meltdown, unleashed expletives at ‘Morning Joe’ producer over Biden op-ed
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: George Clooney was reportedly furious after a segment on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' implied that former president Barack Obama may have influenced his decision to publish a New York Times op-ed urging former president Joe Biden to exit the 2024 race.
Citing author Chris Whipple's new book, journalist Tara Palmeri mentioned on her Substack Red Letter that Clooney directed his anger at a producer from the show — a personal friend — in a series of profanity-laced calls that lasted for hours.
George Clooney loses his cool after 'Morning Joe' broadcast
During the July 11, 2024, broadcast of 'Morning Joe', co-host Mika Brzezinski said, “This wasn’t George Clooney. … I think that Barack Obama has a lot of influence, and I think that there’s, there’s a lot there.”
In his new book 'Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History', Chris Whipple claimed Clooney called a show producer he is close with and unleashed an expletive-filled tirade after this.
“His phone lit up and it’s George Clooney — a good friend of his — and Clooney went absolutely ballistic,” Whipple told Tara Palmeri on an episode of her YouTube channel.
“What ensued was an exchange of F-bombs for, you know, several minutes," he added.
The 'Ocean’s Eleven' actor was “apoplectic” that Brzezinski had suggested Obama “put him up to” the op-ed and was angry that no one on air challenged her, according to Whipple, per Page Six.
'Morning Joe' producer's spat with George Clooney
Tara Palmeri reported in her Substack newsletter and YouTube channel that after the 'Morning Joe' segment aired, George Clooney called the unnamed producer and shouted, “How the f**k could you let her link me with Barack Obama saying he made me write the op-ed?”
When the producer denied any involvement, Clooney reportedly fired back, “You f****d me... you're my friend. You should have stood up for me.”
The staffer then replied, “George, it’s just not a movie, where you go script page to script page.”
Clooney allegedly responded, “F**k you.”
According to Whipple, the producer then shouted back, “‘[F***k] yourself,’” which Palmeri commented on, saying, “I’ve got to give it to the producer. Not a lot of them would probably shout back at an A-list actor like that.”
George Clooney was told 'it's skywriting'
The heated back-and-forth reportedly continued over several calls throughout the day, according to Daily Mail.
At one point, the producer said, “This is a morning talk show on a cable channel. Nobody gives a f**k if we say he [Biden] should get out or if he should stay in.”
“Nobody f*****g cares. It's skywriting. It's f*****g gone,” the producer continued.
“George, I told you before, we'll try and take care of it tomorrow morning. I promise you," assured the producer.
When Clooney expressed doubts about trusting the producer again saying, "I don’t know whether I trust you."
He was met with a blunt response from the producer: “Well, f**k you. If you don't trust me, stop f*****g calling me.”
Palmeri concluded saying, “Doesn’t sound like the cool George Clooney that we know.”
