Amal Clooney has jokingly taken issue with Brad Pitt over a teasing tribute he wrote for her husband, George Clooney. Asked about the message at the 2026 Albies in London, the human rights lawyer laughed off Pitt’s claims about George’s dancing.
“This is defamatory, and it’s wrong,” she said.
The tribute was read out at the recent Venice Film Festival, where George, 65, received the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Pitt could not travel to Italy for the ceremony, so George’s Jay Kelly co-star Laura Dern read his message from the stage. In it, Pitt asked those present to keep his friend away from the dance floor and suggested George had never met an award he would not run towards. He also poked fun at the actor as a pigeon-toed kid from Kentucky before asking why so many people love him.
Amal, 48, was asked about the remarks by Entertainment Tonight at the Albies, the annual fundraiser hosted by the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which took place on 9 October at the Natural History Museum. She insisted the dancing claim was untrue, called Pitt a jealous man who should let it go, and said she had out-danced him herself. George joined in the joke. Asked what his old friend is bad at, he replied: “Telling stories about me, clearly!”
The exchange is the latest round in a friendship built on mutual mockery. The two actors first crossed paths through a 1991 audition for Thelma & Louise, which both reportedly tried out for. They went on to star together in the Ocean’s films and reunited in 2024 for Wolfs. In a 2023 interview with ExtraTV, George described Pitt’s practical jokes as brutal, said they were dirty tricks that cut to the bone, and joked that his co-star no longer looked so good up close. He has also referred to his friend as pretty boy Pitt. Pitt, 62, has not responded publicly to Amal’s comments. The light-hearted back and forth follows a high point in George’s career, with the Golden Lion recognising decades of work in front of and behind the camera. For the Clooneys, the London evening was mainly about the foundation’s work, but the Venice tribute meant that one of the most quoted moments of the night came from a friend who was not in the room.
