Does George Clooney look different in these photos? I know he’s rocking some new facial hair these days, but I feel like something else is “different.” I can’t put my finger on what it is though. These pics are of Clooney in Scotland on Thursday. He was in Edinburgh, and he was being treated like he was making a royal visit, hand to God. He had a police escort, crazy fans swarming him, and a phalanx of press trailing him. He stopped by a sandwich shop called Social Bite, which is run and operated by the formerly homeless. That’s why he was in Edinburgh, just to visit this sandwich shop. The owner sent him an email, basically saying “Hey, if you’re ever in Edinburgh, it would be great if you could draw attention to our little shop!” And Clooney came. I actually think this is better than royalty. He’s doing this for fun, because he’s a good guy, because he cares about the issue, not because it “counts” as an “event.”
Meanwhile, there’s a rumor in this week’s tabloids that Clooney’s Casamigos Tequila is being produced in Mexican sweatshops, with underpaid and underage labor. Casamigos is owned by Clooney and Rande Gerber, and for the past several years, they’ve treated the tequila company as their baby, doing constant promotion for it and even having the tequila featured in every single story about Clooney’s wedding. And all this time, I didn’t realize that it is made in Mexico, although Clooney issued a lengthy statement to Gossip Cop saying that of course he would never use sweatshop labor.
“Casamigos is the fastest growing Premium Tequila brand in the U.S. and unknown third parties may be trying to tarnish their reputation by falsifying a story and shopping it to tabloids. In fact, the National Enquirer squashed the story they were sold when it was brought to their attention the story was fabricated and the reality is the complete opposite of what they were being sold. Our lawyers were in fact told by the National Enquirer that given the evidence, they halted their cover story. Their sister company, OK Magazine had already gone to print so it was too late to stop the story. They promised it would not be released online, and it hasn’t. The fact is, Casamigos Tequila is produced at the finest and most respected distillery in a small agricultural town in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. The distillery and its operations are fully regulated, approved annually, and monitored on a daily basis by the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (“CRT”), the tequila industry’s regulatory agency. We visited the distillery earlier this year and saw none of the supposed conditions listed by this tabloid.
Further, our U.S.-based and local representatives have made frequent visits to the distillery over the last five years and have not observed any of the conditions listed by this tabloid. In fact, our representative (a U.S.-based veteran in the spirits production industry) happens to be in Jalisco at the distillery last week and consulted with us regarding the actual conditions at the distillery now. Based on assurances directly from the distillery owners, all staff are of legal working age, the staff is paid well above what Mexican law requires, overtime work is optional and is compensated by overtime pay, and the working conditions at the distillery are sanitary, safe, and consistent with industry standards as confirmed by the CRT during their normal audits of the distillery.
The distillery is an important local employer that has been in business for nearly 20 years. They have earned ISO and other well-known certifications regarding the quality and effectiveness of their operation. We are proud that our brand’s business growth has helped create jobs both in Jalisco and in the USA. Casamigos is confident that the allegations contained in this tabloid story are completely false. If we had found any single part of this to be true, it would have been addressed immediately and very publicly.”
Okay. I believe him. I’ll accuse George Clooney of many, many things (CONTRACTUAL LOVE), but I think he’s smart enough to understand that everything about his tequila company needs to be above-board. He also knows that he wouldn’t be able to issue such a thorough denial if he didn’t have all of his tequila-soaked ducks in a row.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Does his hair look different (plus he’s actually dressed nicely)? I’m getting a Sean-Connery-with-a-toupee resemblance.
I was thinking that his hair looked really good, and that it was hard to tell if it’s real or not. Looks more real than, say, Affleck’s, though.
And I also would not suspect him of shady business practices. He knows he’s too high profile to get away with it. Plus he strikes me as ethical when it comes to business.
He got filler along his jawline. You can tell because his chin is more pronounced and the skin looks tighter
I agree he is giving me the Sean Connery vibes too, I think he looks pretty good in these photos, he looks genuinely relaxed and himself, I am glad he didnt take his showpony with him.
Agree on the Jaw!
Aw that was kind of him to go to the shop.
It was! And he looks good, and happy.
Definitely cheek fillers
That was my first thought, too!
Good post. I have a soft spot for George.
Me too. This made me a little happy.
His face looks the same, we just rarely see him with an actual goatee (as opposed to goatee-esque stubble) so it looks weird.
I agree. I think the hair, surprisingly, makes a pretty big impact on his appearance- until he smiles.
He looks like he put on some weight. The hair looks different too (different haircut?).
George looks nice in his outfit. Poor Amal. All she ever gets is George in dad jeans on their nights out. LOL
Bit of botox and some fillers in the “apple” of his cheeks.
THIS!!!
I love Edinburgh!! Great city.
Very nice of Clooney to go visit the shop.
He would never use a sweat shop. I don’t think he’s that dumb, and I actually think he cares more than that. I hate his experimental beard, but I just hate facial hair in general. That was nice of him to go to the shop.
Tequila is crazy regulated in Mexico and can only even be called tequila if it comes from a certain region in Jalisco state, sort of like how champagne can only come from a certain region in France. Wages in Mexico last time I checked (I lived there for some time) were somewhere between 6-8 dollars a day depending on the state so IMO those are sweatshop wages anyway but thats the way it is down there. Labor unions are very strong in Mexico and favor the workers to the point where owning a business can be trying at best, your workers OWN you after 28 days of working and it can be nearly impossible to fire someone if they do wrong. The biggest f’up employee can do whatever he/she wants and pretty much get away with it and they know it.
I dont believe this story.
LOL at tequila sweatshops!!!! There are adulterated liquors , but tequila, like nativo said is. Very regulated, particularly for exportation, so, no. There are tours to visit some distilleries it is a nice, tequila- soaked little trip!
Clooney didn’t go to Edinburgh to just visit a shop. He was invited to give a speech at the Scottish Business Awards, supported by the Royal Bank of Scottland. The founder of this award is Josh Littlejohn, the owner of the not-for-profit sandwich shop, Social Bite. This is not charity, but PR, and mostly self-service. He urgently needs some good one, after another movie failing (Our Brand is Crisis), and most peoople still unwilling to buy into his marriage. And he will promote another cause somewhere out there (like his failed Sudan mission) that actually is counterproductive to people who really need support. This is an elitist supporting other elitists via “philantrophy”.
When this was arranged (ages ago), Josh Littlejohn gave an interview stating he’d been told that every year George Clooney looks for one small charity to lend his name to. So, through channels, he offered up Social Bite (a sound initiative btw) as one for this year. Clooney’s people got back to him saying George liked the sound of it and they knew of Josh Littlejohn as the events organiser for the Scottish Business Awards too. Clinton had raised money for the Clinton Foundation via giving a keynote there the other year.
Josh Littlejohn is also on record, The Times, as saying a deal was done with Clooney to guarantee an amount for his Not on Our Watch. He said he was not allowed to disclose the sum, but that he’d had to guarantee Clooney’s charity “a several hundreds of thousands” figure. Similar had applied to Clinton and Josh Littlejohn said the guaranteed amount had only been met due to one fortunate large donation on the night. He admitted to having worried they wouldn’t meet the target as they had to meet the agreed amount to go to Clinton before Social Bite and other smaller charities saw any benefit. Same this year for Clooney.
Now, not knocking it – all to the good if money gets to people who need it. But, the ‘dropped a wee email and George (altruistically) just popping by’ bit is PR myth for Clooney’s image sake.
And the off-set of the Police Scotland officers used for this has upset a lot of people. Particularly in light of the current cut-backs on frontline officers and an ongoing review into several ‘avoidable’ deaths and tragedies having happened as a result of no officers available to attend. Including one car crash – resulting in two preventable deaths if the Police had responded to the incident call at the time. They waited THREE days to investigate the report only to discover the driver had died in the interim and the passenger was in organ failure having been left untreated just off a busy main road for THREE days.
You seem to know far more details than I do, thank you for explaining. I truly think, honest and valuable efforts like The Social Bite get exploited by people like Clooney for their own PR. To show how much they are ‘one of us’, wheras they belong to the 1%ers who just simply like to keep it that way, Clinton, Branson, Geldof etc. For this evening, people could buy a Platinum ticket for £10,000 to sit in front, to have good view of George while he adresses how important charity is…and at the same time occupying police and security forces that are desperately needed otherwise. It’s a travesty, really. There are many things about these charities that don’t add up, same for the Armenian 100 Life Initiative where George is a poster boy for.
Siri, I kind of agree with you, but I hope he is doing it genuinely and not to up his pr. But it is hard to beleive what his motives are anymore.
I think he lost his way.
With all due respect to Clooney, Gerber, and Casamigos Tequila, Mexican employment law protections are much weaker than in the U.S. Paying above the Mexican minimum wage does not equate to paying a living wage to workers. Making overtime optional does not necessarily mean employees truly have the option to work and get paid overtime wages for extra hours. I would not rely on the assurances of the distillery owners that all the staff are of legal working age. Faking documents is VERY easy. I have a birth certificate showing that I was born in Mombasa, Kenya, and two degrees from the University of Karachi, but I have never been to Kenya or Pakistan in my entire life. And I would love to know how the distillery owners determined that working conditions were safe and consistent with industry standards. Which industry? The worldwide spirits production industry in general? Or the Mexican tequila production industry? Just because the Mexican government’s CRT is monitoring the distillery on a daily basis (allegedly) does not mean they are not turning a blind eye to all sorts of wrongdoing. Anyone who has ever tried to get anything done in Mexico is well aware of the necessity of paying morditas, the “little bites” or, more correctly, bribes. So, yeah, sorry but I am going need to see some receipts from an independent monitor before I believe that Casamigos Tequila is a good corporate citizen. George should ask Amal; I am sure she knows some good human rights folks who do this sort of thing!
A few years ago China lifted it’s ban on importing tequila, and that began a rush of new makers eager to cash in on the huge untapped market..and there were stories of lots of under-the-table deals with officials that helped this market explosion happen (the WSJ did some reporting..can’t remember the dates) but in short, the old tight control is not what it used to be, and the honest scrutiny line seems to be history.
HIs PR game is lacking with his marriage but it was always spot on. his was never caught in a major scandal and i dont think its because he is a better person than others just more Pr savvy. so no way he would do that without knowing how it would impact his image.
Hate to be snarky, but did George visit this sandwich shop to off set the attention on the Tequila sweatshops, Good PR move. It is too much of a coincidence that this happened around the same time.
And BIngo! A good Pr move to offset a bad story to just be released. of course he did it for his own ends, the @ss knows no other way. Wish he and his beard (wife, cough!) would move to the states permanently, they are polluting my country with their presence, and please do not anyone come here to say ‘But his wife can’t because she is a top human rights lawyer!’, she is no such thing and never has been.
I’m very disappointed that he’s (along with Danny DeVito) advertising Nespresso coffee pods, which are horrible for the environment. Those pods are filling up our landfills. 🙁
Yes, those are a travesty. I recently read that even the guy who invented them wishes he hadn’t.
You can buy re usable pods, that is what I use in my keruig.
Something is up with his hair. It looks better though.
I think he looks different because he looks so tan. His skin looks much darker than usual. And his hair is a little darker as well. He looks good. Very good !
Also, he looks really hot without Amal helicoptering next to him. !
Beard. It’s longer and differently styled.
He said the same thing about Nestlé’s Coffee Plantations in South America. They flew him down to inspect a plantation for himself, carefully orchestrated. “See it’s all wonderful” meanwhile the UN keeps naming Nestle as one of it’s worst human rights corporate offenders. I wouldn’t put it past him to turning a blind eye to any rumours, he is pretty naive. Remember all the Darfur hand wringing, it all became too hard so he just ignores it now.