Spotted on Us:
George Clooney and hotel magnate Steve Wynn had their very own Sin City showdown earlier this month, when a dinner at Botero restaurant turned into a verbal sparring match. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Clooney walked out of the meal following an argument with Wynn—but both men have very different accounts of what happened before that.
Wynn, 72, told the Review-Journal that Clooney, 52, “got drunk” and took exception to a joke about former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev. What really set him off, though, was a debate over healthcare—in Wynn’s version of the story, at least. “I think my discussion about the Affordable Care Act was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” the casino mogul (and noted Republican donor) told the paper.
Clooney, for his part, issued an emailed statement through his publicist on Wednesday, April 23. “There were nine people at that table…so you can ask them,” he told the Review-Journal. (The star was part of a group including his Casamigos business partners Rande Gerber and Michael Meldman, as well as two CAA execs.)
“Steve likes to go on rants…He called the president an a–hole…that is a fact,” the Argo producer continued, referring to President Barack Obama. “I said the president was my longtime friend, and then he said, ‘your friend is an a–hole.’ At that point I told Steve that HE was an a–hole, and I wasn’t going to sit at his table while he was being such a jackass…and I walked out.” (Reps for Wynn and Clooney confirmed to THR that an argument had taken place.)
“There were obviously quite a few more adjectives and adverbs used by both of us,” he added. “Those are all the facts. It had nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with character.”
Wynn thinks it had something to do with alcohol, too. “When he’s drinking, he considers himself a close personal buddy of the president,” the Encore hotel owner told the Review-Journal of the actor. “Clooney’s fun to be with when he’s sober. If you have a chance to drink with him, you want to get there early and don’t stay late.”
