George Clooney Withdraws From WGA Over ‘Leatherheads’ Snub

Remember yesterday when we posted about how incorrigibly charming George Clooney is? Well, according to Variety, the WGA might not agree. After an arbitration hearing where the Guild failed to give Clooney a writing credit for Leatherheads, he decided to become a Financial Core member. That means he can’t vote, run for office, or attend meetings, yet he still has to pay dues. But as Hollywood’s most rakish bachelor explains,

“When your own union doesn’t back what you’ve done, the only honorable thing to do is not participate.”

So, where did it all go wrong between George and the Guild? Clooney claims that he found the 17-year-old-script for Leatherheads, written by Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, and gave it a major overhaul. In fact, he feels he wrote all but 2 of the scenes in the period football comedy, and was incensed that the Guild refused to recognise his efforts. Clooney would have resigned from the Guild altogether, but that would mean he couldn’t work on WGA-coverd productions anymore, so instead we went Fi-Core. According to producing partner Grant Heslov:

“Financial core was his form of protest, but when he did it, he didn’t want it public. We’re both big union guys. Between us, we belong to 12 unions. I think they made the wrong decision, and he was within his rights to respond by going financial core.”

Amazingly, this all happened before the strike, but George decided to keep it quiet until now so it wouldn’t have a negative impact on the protest. Damn you, Clooney. Even when you’re angry, you’re still a mensch!

• WGA, Clooney at odds over credit [Variety]