British sources are quoting George Clooney as saying that Brad Pitt’s children are not welcome at his famous Italian bachelor mansion and that he gets nervous around kids:

The 45 year old has banned his buddy from bringing his and Angelina Jolie’s five kiddiewinks to his Italian villa this summer.

He told The Sun: “I’ve told him he can’t bring his children.

“I get nervous around kids.

“I’m not ready for that kind of life.”

[From Sky Showbiz]

Sky Showbiz had that questionable quote from Clooney and attributes it to The Sun, while The Mirror runs the same story and doesn’t source the quote.

In fact I couldn’t find this story in the online version of The Sun.

It turns out it’s a quote from an OK! interview and of course it’s been misconstrued, with the quotes taken out of order. When you read the full interview it sounds like Clooney is just joking around about Brad not bringing his kids. He also said that thing about not wanting a family and getting nervous around kids way before he talked about Brad not coming over. Those two quotes are not related at all.

Do you think you’ll ever have children?
I don’t know why everyone wants me to become a father – I’m so selfish and I get nervous around kids and I know I’m not ready for that kind of life. I’ve settled into a very comfortable lifestyle and I really don’t want to change things. I’ve learnt enough about myself to know that my work is the main thing which drives me and that a woman who comes into my life is going to have to deal with that which isn’t easy.

Would you not be happier with a woman at your side?
It’s not a question of happiness, it’s a matter of what you want most out of life and how you need to live to get where you want to go. I would love to be the kind of man who can pursue both, but I haven’t been able to do that in the past, which can be very painful for you and the woman in your life. I’ve found my life is a lot more satisfying and interesting if I’m free to pursue it exactly the way I want, which is to make movies, hang out with my friends and live very freely. I need that.

And you still have a reputation for partying…
I don’t live at full tilt the way I used to. You begin to hate waking up with the kind of hangover you get from going on huge benders with your buddies. Also, since my neck surgeries, I’ve been forced to take things easier and not beat up my body the way I used to. I’m more cautious.

Is your Italian villa still important to you?
Oh sure, I love it there! Except I’ve been talking about it so much that everyone knows where I live now. I have the feeling they’re handing out tourist maps in Italy about how to get to George Clooney’s house!

Are you treated any differently there?
The good thing is the local people treat me very well as one of their own. I can still go to most restaurants in the area, speak to the regulars and feel very much at home. No one cares about the film business there, it’s all about food, wine and women and the beauty of being there. It doesn’t get better than that!

Will you be taking your Ocean’s Thirteen cast to your villa again when you’re promoting the film?
Some will probably visit me later. I guess Brad will, but I’ve told him he can’t bring his 15 children with him!

Is it true when you shot Ocean’s Twelve, you, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon had so much fun that the film suffered?
We did do a lot of drinking and partying but that had nothing to do with how the film turned out. What hurt Ocean’s Twelve was that we had some problems with the script that never got solved and we just drank to make us forget that we probably didn’t have as good as movie on our hands as we hoped for. We all wanted another crack at it and we came up with a really good idea for Ocean’s Thirteen which is more about revenge. We thought this could be areally fun film to make and I’m confident we’ve got our mojo back on this one.

[From OK! Magazine UK print edition, May 8, 2007 via ClooneyStudio]

Today’s Sun does run another quote from Clooney from that same interview where he says that he doesn’t go on benders anymore and hates waking up with a hangover.

Maybe The Sun ran that earlier quote about Clooney saying Brad can’t bring his kids over, and then replaced it with the hangover story, which was more accurate.

These papers really need to quote their damn sources properly, because the news today is going to be that Clooney dissed Pitt’s family, and that’s not what he said at all.

I really liked how candid Clooney was about wanting to remain single and making his work his priority. He is a notorious playboy, but he makes it sound like a reasonable personal choice. (Of course we’ll be back to dissing him for it next week.)

Here are pics of George and Brad in Oceans 11 and Oceans 12 thanks to AllMoviePhoto. Oceans 13 is out on June 7th.