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Forget what you've heard about Amal Alamuddin's mother disapproving of her daughter's upcoming wedding to George Clooney due to religious reasons.
The Daily Mail recently published an article in which cited unnamed sources as saying Alamuddin risked being "cast out of the community" because she was not marrying a fellow Druze. Druze, the religion to which Alamuddin and some of her family belong, is a monotheistic religion based mostly in Lebanon, Syria and Israel. The Daily Mail also wrote that "several women have been murdered" for not abiding by the sect's stricter rules. The paper focused on Alamuddin's mother's concerns relating to these stories.
But last night, Clooney took a stand against the reports. He wrote an op-ed for USA Today that ran last night, in which he denounced the "completely fabricated" article.
"First of all, none of the story is factually true," Clooney writes. "Amal's mother is not Druze. She has not been to Beirut since Amal and I have been dating, and she is in no way against the marriage — but none of that is the issue. If they fabricate stories of Amal being pregnant, or that the marriage will take place on the set of Downton Abbey, or that I'm running for office, or any number of idiotic stories that they sit at their computers and invent, I don't care," he continues.
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But this particular story struck a nerve for the A-list actor and activist. "The irresponsibility, in this day and age, to exploit religious differences where none exist, is at the very least negligent and more appropriately dangerous. We have family members all over the world, and the idea that someone would inflame any part of that world for the sole reason of selling papers should be criminal."
His scathing letter goes on to indict the paper and its "irresponsible" article, as well as refer to Alamuddin as his fiancée for the first time in print.
Since the letter, Clooney's mom and Alamuddin's mom have been photographed happily shopping together in Lake Como, and the Daily Mail has issued an apology, stating: "We accept Mr. Clooney's assurance that the story is inaccurate and we apologize to him, Miss Amal Alamuddin and her mother, Baria, for any distress caused."