I write a pop culture column for the Cape Cod Times, so I am no innocent in writing about celebrities. While I'm no Perez Hilton, I have been known to make my snarky remarks about people in show business. It's part of my job. But, I have to say, I do try to be accurate, and not report untruths, or fan the flames of innuendo and rumor.
So, I have been really interested to follow the trail of a remark made by George Clooney during a Newsweek Magazine round table discussion (click on living near Britney Spears)with several Oscar winners and nominees.
I greatly enjoyed the videos, and it was fun to see the adorable Ellen Page seated between Daniel Day Lewis and George Clooney, clearly in awe of her new-found status as Oscar nominee.
The discussion took a comical turn when the stars began talking about dealing with the paparazzi in their everyday lives. Clooney was encouraged to tell a recent tale of his own, when he'd come home to a war-zone-like scene of helicopters, police cars and chaos. Clooney goes on to say that he grabbed a baseball bat, ran outside in his robe, fearing for his assistant's safety in the guest house, but after calling her discovered she wasn't there and safe and sound. In the end he discovered that he lives about 300 yards from Britney Spears and that was the night she'd refused to hand over her children to her ex, Kevin Federline.
At the end of his story, Clooney, always the jokester said, "So, now I have to move," in a deadpan delivery, but clearly smiling.
What has amazed me, is in the days following this statement is the headlines that keep ending up in my inbox. It really got me thinking how a. It seems few journalists and bloggers have a sense of humor, and b. Never underestimate the power of spin and the sullying of the truth.
Two of the headlines I've received are: George Clooney: Get Me The Hell Away From Britney Spears and George Clooney Moving Away From Britney Spears.
I found the evolution of a false rumor just so fascinating! And that wasn't the only Clooney one this week. There was another one that started by Clooney saying he admired the humanitarian work Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell had been doing, and ended up with a headline of George Clooney To Hook Up With A Spice Girl. It all starts with one simple statement and then, like that old game of telephone we played as kids, (and National Enquirer cover stories) it morphs into something with perhaps a small grain of truth, but no longer has the original intent or meaning.
I get sucked in just like anyone else, but I've learned a valuable lesson this week about rumors and how they just take on a life of their own. I just wish I had a way of finding out if Angelina Jolie really IS pregnant with twins! Not for any other reason than I'm having kind of a slow week.
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