Amal Clooney, international human rights lawyer and wife to actor George Clooney, has many fans, but there is also a group of people who look upon her with suspicion. There are a surprising number of conspiracy theories attached to Amal, and none of them are very complimentary of the lawyer and mother of two. Gossip Cop searched out the reasons why Amal seemed to inspire such animosity and we weren’t entirely prepared for the disturbing rumors we discovered.
To some, Amal Clooney seems to have the perfect life. The British-Lebanese lawyer attained a Masters of Law degree from New York University School of Law, even working for future Supreme Court judge Sonia Sotomayor for a semester. Following her graduation, she passed the bar in the US, England, and Wales before becoming an international lawyer.
Shortly after finding success in her career, Amal met her future husband, George, in 2013. The two quickly fell in love and married the very next year. A few years later, the happy couple welcomed fraternal twins, a son named Alexander and a daughter named Ella. To the casual observer, Amal has led a charmed life, but other people suspect the human rights lawyer committed dark deeds to get where she is today.
Perhaps because George Clooney famously remained unmarried for most of his professional life, some of these accusations come out of jealousy. It’s hard not to find derogatory comments about Amal’s looks, though we won’t repeat those comments here. We did come across some allegations during our research that the Clooneys’ marriage was totally faked in order to propel Amal to fame, though it’s not entirely clear just why George would do so, nor what precisely he got out of the bargain. There were also rumors that George was secretly gay, and that marrying Amal was a cover of some sort to hide that fact. It should go without saying that there is no evidence to support either claim, and in fact plenty of proof to the contrary.
One of the most disturbing allegations Gossip Cop discover over the course of our research were claims that Amal Clooney was actually born a man and became a transgender woman. These sorts of rumors constantly spring up about women who have the least bit of muscle tone, and it seems to specifically happen to women of color most often. Both Michelle Obama and Serena Williams, among others, have been accused of secretly being transgender women, despite the fact that all three of the women listed above are mothers. It might just be a coincidence that only a certain sub-section of women face these mean-spirited rumors, but when there are so many coincidences, it might be a pattern. Clearly, this particular rumor is false.
Speaking of bizarre conspiracies, there is a theory that links New York House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Hilary Clinton staffer Huma Abedin, and Amal Clooney as part of some strange plot by Saudi Arabia. Supposedly, Ocasio-Cortez bears a striking resemblance to Abedin’s sister, Heba, which has led people to believe that the two women are one-and-the-same. That would mean that Ocasio-Cortez was not actually hispanic, rather she was Saudi Arabian.
That, of course, is laughable. First of all, Abedin is actually of Pakistani descent, and she was born in Michigan, though her family did live in Saudi Arabia for some years. Second of all, there is ample evidence that proves Heba and Ocasio-Cortez are, in fact, separate people. The two women do look somewhat alike, but there are obvious differences that make them stand apart. Where does Amal fit in? Well, she supposedly is the spitting image of Abedin, which must mean that she is also a sibling.
Some take this conspiracy even further and allege that Amal, Abedin, Ocasio-Cortez, and New Zealand president Jacinda Ardern are actually all siblings who were test tube babies. These women supposedly were able to rise to positions of authority thanks to the secret organization that created them and scattered them around the world. Does all of that sound confusing and hard to believe? You’d be right to feel that way. It almost goes without saying that there is zero evidence, beyond superficial similarities in appearance, that link any of these women together.
Stepping away from the conspiratorial side of the internet, there is also some outrage over Amal’s profession. Some people question why Amal, who is well known for her human rights activism, doesn’t take on certain cases. Then there’s the outcry over the cases Amal isn’t directly involved in, but has been spoken about. Amal has been very outspoken about the case of Maria Ressa, a prominent journalist from the Philippines, which rubbed some people the wrong way. It’s impossible for Amal to take on every case someone on the internet tags her in, especially since her jurisdiction for practicing the law is limited to two countries.
Tabloids have also done their fair share of tarnishing Amal’s image. Over the years, Gossip Cop has debunked an innumerable amount of rumors about her marriage with George Clooney. The stories usually fall into two separate categories, though the more inventive tabloids enjoy combining the two types of stories in new and interesting ways. Every story is either about how George and Amal Clooney’s marriage is breaking up or a story about how the spouses are having a second set of twins, almost without fail. To spice it up, some tabloids claim the couple are having the second set of twins to save their marriage.
When the tabloids aren’t predicting twins and a divorce for the couple, they’re doing everything they can to make Amal seem uptight and zero fun. For instance, there was the rumor that George and Amal were divorcing over George’s childish antics. Seeing as how that prediction was made last year and the couple haven’t divorced yet, it’s obvious we were correct to judge it to be false.
Another ridiculous story claimed Amal was grossed out by George’s beard and forced him to shave it. Then there was the time the Globe claimed George’s back injury from his Italian scooter accident was causing problems in his marriage. Of course this was just another untrue rumor. When they’re looked at individually, it’s easy to see how silly these articles are, but taken all together, it’s clear to see just how some people came to the conclusion that Amal is cold, bossy, and utterly unsympathetic.
It seems that Amal Clooney’s high profile career, her extremely well-known and well-liked husband, and, unfortunately, Amal’s ethnic background have made her into a controversial figure. Obviously, there will be those who disagree with Amal’s political stances and views, but that didn’t come up nearly as often in Gossip Cop’s research as conspiracy theories about genetic experiments.
It’s incredibly odd, and a bit disheartening, to discover such a well of misinformation and hate about a person, especially one who has clearly dedicated her life to helping those who are most in need of defending. Sure, people are free to dislike whoever they want for whatever reason pleases them best, but it’s so sad to see so many people hate someone for utterly nonsensical reasons.