George Clooney reportedly yelled obscenities at an MSNBC producer after Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski suggested former president Barack Obama urged the actor to pen his now in-famous op-ed calling for former president Joe Biden to step down, according to a new book.
During a segment of the morning MSNBC show in July, Brzezinski suggested that Obama heavily influenced Clooney’s op-ed published in the New York Times calling for Biden to allow another Democrat to run against President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
“This wasn’t George Clooney,” Brzezinski said. “I think that Barack Obama has a lot of influence.”
That assertion allegedly enraged Clooney, journalist Chris Whipple reported in his new book about the Biden campaign. Whipple shared the recount with Substack The Red Letter.
“How the f*** could you let her link me with Barack Obama, saying he made me write the op-ed?” Clooney shouted over the phone to an MSNBC producer.
At the time, other reports also attributed Clooney’s decision to request Biden step down to Obama. Some reports suggested Clooney informed Obama of his op-ed before it was published, but the former president simply did not object to it.
Clooney reportedly became angrier with the producer when they denied involvement in pushing Brzezinski to make the link.
“You f***ed me,” Clooney yelled. “You’re my friend. You should have stood up for me.”
The producer reportedly responded, “George, this is not a f***ing movie. There’s no script.”
The two allegedly got into a profanity-filled back-and-forth for several hours over the phone. The producer seemingly told Clooney they would try to “take care of it” the next day.
At one point, the producer told Clooney, “This is a morning talk show on a cable channel. Nobody gives a f*** if we say he should get out or he should stay in.”
Clooney is a longtime Democratic ally and endorsed Obama, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Biden. He held fundraisers for Biden in 2020 and 2024. But, shortly after hosting a fundraiser for Biden last year, he published the op-ed calling for him to step down.
The Independent has reached out to representatives for Clooney for comment.
