George Clooney gave millions of dollars in cash to friends] George Clooney recently confirmed a claim in a GQ interview that he gave each of his 14 friends $1 million in cash in 2013.
Clooney recalled that it was to thank these people for helping him in various ways over the past 35 years, “I slept on their couch when I was broke, borrowed their money …… over the years and they would help me when I was helpless,” he said. Reaching out to them, I had helped them as well. We were good friends, and I thought: I wouldn’t have what I have without them, and we were really close, and basically I thought if I got hit by a bus, they’d be mentioned in my will, so why the fuck would I wait to get hit by a bus? ”
Where did the $14 million come from? At that time, Clooney starred in Gravity (which became an unexpected box office dark horse, grossing $723 million worldwide) and “the studio didn’t want to pay us, so they gave us a cut because they thought the box office would pounce, which turned out to be a good deal,” he said. He got a cut. Clooney, who was unmarried at the time and had no expectation that he would get married and have a family in the future, decided to give the money to his friends instead of saving it.
With the question of how to get so much cash, Clooney did some research and found a secret place in Downtown Los Angeles that would take care of it, “with huge stacks of money! He rents an old van with “Flower Shop” written on it. So, like a lot of heist movies, he rents an old van with “flower store” written on it, drives to the mysterious warehouse, rides down in the elevator, and fills the van with Clooney didn’t tell anyone about it.
Clooney did this without telling anyone, except for his assistant and some security people (“they were terrified”) who helped him load the money, then he bought 14 suitcases, loaded each one with a million dollars (“not as much as you’d think, weight-wise”), and invited the 14 friends to his house the next day.
When the friends arrived that day, Clooney took a map and showed them “all the places in the world I’ve been able to go and all the things I’ve been able to see because of them! How about $1 million?” and said, “How do you repay someone like that? ”
It happened on September 27th and 28th of that year, and Clooney recalls that, purely by coincidence, he married Amal Clooney a year later on September 27th, 2014, thinking that he would never get married.
Clooney added that a few years after the event, when it was already rumored, at a hotel in Las Vegas, “I met a really rich asshole, who must have been a lot richer than me anyway,” he said. ‘Why are you doing this?’ I said, ‘Why don’t you do that? You fool.’ ”
Clooney’s longtime friend, entrepreneur and Cindy Crawford’s husband, Rand Kieber, revealed the story on the show in 2017.
“A bunch of us friends formed a group called ‘The Boys.’ One day, George called me and the others and said, ‘Hey, make a note that on September 27, 2013, everybody come to my house and finish dinner.’ “And when they arrived, they saw a box on every seat.
While we’re still together, it’s important that I give back,” Clooney said. They opened it – it was filled with old $20 bills, $1 million each, and Clooney had taxed them all.
“George spoke up: ‘Listen, I want you to know how important you are to me and to my life. When I first came to Los Angeles, I slept on your couch. I’ve been very fortunate to have you guys in my life, and I wouldn’t be here today without your help. I know we’ve all been through tough times and some of us are still going through them. You don’t have to worry about the kids, the school, the loans.” ”
Keeber says one of his friends works in a bar at the Texas airport and bikes to work every day to support his family. Keeber, who owns his own business, took Clooney aside and said he could never take the money, to which Clooney replied, “I declare: if Rand doesn’t take the money, nobody will. “Keeber eventually took it and donated it to charity.
That’s the kind of person George is,” he said. That was on September 27, 2013, and on September 27, 2014, he married Amal, and that’s a good marriage”.
BBC: True Hollywood Story: Clooney Gave 14 Friends Million Dollars Cash Each
Hollywood star George Clooney has confirmed the long-running rumor that he gave each of his 14 friends who helped him $1 million in cash as a gift.
Clooney recounted the story to GQ magazine himself, which sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie, but it happened in real life, and it happened right here in Hollywood.
It all started in 2017, when Clooney’s good friend and business partner Rande Gerber was the first to reveal that he had received a suitcase full of cash from Clooney as a token of his appreciation.
Since then, Clooney himself has neither acknowledged nor denied the incredible story.
This is the first time Clooney has confirmed the rumors himself, as he said in an interview with the magazine, “It was in 2013, and I had just met Emma (aka Amal, Clooney’s current wife), but I hadn’t started dating yet. The best friends are not getting any younger. ”
“All of these people are really good friends of mine and have probably helped me for a long time in my life. ”
Clooney said, “All of us are very close and good friends, and we have helped each other out over the years, and I wouldn’t be here today without those friends. ”
He said, “If I get hit by a car someday, I’ll leave them part of my inheritance. So I wondered why I should wait until I was hit by a car to express my gratitude to them. ”
So Clooney got a van and disguised it as a flower delivery truck to a location in Los Angeles to pick up the $14 million in cash, which required the use of a pallet truck to move it.
With the careful assistance of a few security guards, they packed the $14 million in 14 Tumi briefcases, just like in the Hollywood movie “Ocean’s Eleven” starring Clooney.
After preparing the cash suitcases, he told the 14 friends to come over for dinner the next day, and when they arrived they found a suitcase at each person’s table.
Clooney told them each $1 million was a gift to show his appreciation.
Gerber recalls Clooney saying, “I want you to know how much you mean to me, that I came to Los Angeles and slept on your couch. ”
“I’m very lucky to have you folks, I wouldn’t be here today without your help, and I hope to give back to you by asking you to open your suitcases while we are all still alive. ”
Gerber said everyone was surprised when they opened the box and saw the $1 million cash gift, and that Clooney said he had pre-taxed the cash gift, which meant that each of them would receive $1 million.
“One of them has a friend who works in a bar at a Texas airport, earns money to support his family, rides his bike to work every day, and these people helped Clooney and now in exchange Clooney is giving back to them. ”
Gerber, himself a successful businessman married to supermodel Cindy Crawford, told Clooney he didn’t need the $1 million cash gift, but Clooney insisted he take it.
Gerber said, “I pulled him aside and told him I could never take the money, but he immediately said, ‘Well, I’m going to tell everybody that if Gerber doesn’t take the $1 million, nobody else can either. ‘ “
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