Clooney gets apology over false tale

Usually George Clooney merely ignores most of the specious reports about himself, his love life or other aspects of the Oscar winner’s life. So you KNOW the actor and filmmaker had to be royally ticked-off for him to demand Britain’s Daily Mail retract and apologize for a report about his fiancée and her mother.

Clooney blasted the Daily Mail for printing a “completely fabricated” story stating Amal Alamuddin’s mother was concerned her daughter was marrying the Hollywood star — unhappy they didn’t share the same religion.

In a very detailed statement, Clooney said, “If they fabricate stories of Amal being pregnant, or that the marriage will take place on the set of ‘Downton Abbey, or that I’m running for office, or any number of idiotic stories that they sit at their computers and invent, I don’t care. But this involves larger issues.”

In the story, the Daily Mail claimed Alamuddin’s mother had told “half of Beirut” that she was opposed to the wedding. There also was a joking reference to a “tradition” in the Druze religion that could lead to the death of the bride.

Turns out Baria Alamuddin is not a Druze.

Wednesday morning the Daily Mail took the story down from its website and issued a statement apologizing to Clooney, claiming it was “not a fabrication, but supplied in good faith by a reputable and trusted freelance journalist.”

The news organization also said it was launching a full investigation to discover how the story ended up being published.