Dear Daily Mail: saying "sorry" isn't going to cut it this time.
Just two days after George Clooney slammed the newspaper for publishing a "fabricated" article about his mother-in-law opposing his upcoming marriage to fiancée Amal Alamuddin because of differing cultural beliefs - the actor fired off in a second op-ed refusing to accept the publication's apology.
In the penned op-ed published by USA Today on Friday, the 53-year-old actor Academy-Award winning actor called out the Daily Mail for trying to cover up their mistake and added that the British tabloid was the "worst kind."
"There is one constant when a person or company is caught doing something wrong. The cover-up is always worse," Clooney wrote. "In this case, the Daily Mail has printed an apology for insinuating religious tensions where there are none. In the apology, managing editor Charles Garside claims that the article was 'not a fabrication,' but 'based the story on conversations with senior members of the Lebanese community.'"
In the article published by the Daily Mail, a source claimed religious differences could keep Clooney and his soon-to-be bride from getting married. It suggested that Alamuddin's mother, Baria Alamuddin, did not approve of the couple's upcoming nuptials because she did not want her daughter to marry outside the Druze faith.
"The problem is that none of that is true," Clooney continued to USA Today. "The original story never cites that source, but instead goes out of its way to insist on four different occasions that 'a family friend' spoke directly to the Mail. A 'family friend' was the source. So either they were lying originally or they're lying now."
Clooney added: "The Mail knew the story in question was false and printed it anyway. What separates this from all of the ridiculous things the Mail makes up is that now, by their own admission, it can be proved to be a lie. In fact, a premeditated lie."
In his first letter, "The Monuments Men" actor slammed the publication, touching on the topic of religious intolerance while insisting they made up stories to make money.
The Daily Mail issued an apology to the actor Wednesday, but maintained the story was not fabricated. The Mail said the information was "supplied in good faith by a reputable and trusted freelance journalist," who based her "story on conversations with senior members of the Lebanese community in the U.K. and the Druze in Beirut."
In conclusion Clooney wrote, "So I thank the Mail for its apology. Not that I would ever accept it, but because in doing so they've exposed themselves as the worst kind of tabloid. One that makes up its facts to the detriment of its readers and to all the publications that blindly reprint them."
