Blogwars: Clooney Clashes With Huffington Over 'approved' Posting

George Clooney has no problem being called a liberal - too many people in the US, he said recently, act "like it’s a dirty word" - but he draws the line at being called a blogger. The leftwing actor has fallen out with the leftwing commentator and socialite Arianna Huffington over whether he authorized his words to appear on her blog, The Huffington Post.

A posting appeared under Clooney’s byline and picture on Monday, entitled "I am a Liberal. There, I said it!" In it the Oscar-winning actor attacked the Democratic party for passivity in the face of Republican warmongering. "It drives me crazy to hear all these Democrats saying, ‘We were misled’," he wrote. "It makes me want to shout, ‘Fuck you, you weren’t misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic.’" His words were reported by several national and international media outlets.

In fact, the posting had been assembled by Ms Huffington from two interviews Mr Clooney gave recently - one to the Guardian’s film and music section and one to CNN’s Larry King. She said she had received unambiguous approval in writing from the actor’s publicist for the use of his words. But in a statement, Clooney called Ms Huffington’s actions "purposefully misleading ... I stand by my statements, but I did not write this blog."

His publicist, Stan Rosenfield, denied that the problem had been a breakdown in communication between himself and his client. "She knows what she was doing. She was saying to people that she had George Clooney’s [blog posting] and was printing it. George Clooney does not make statements. He answers questions."

Mr Clooney’s appearance on the blog had seemed like a scoop: the Huffington Post’s list of contributors reads like a roll call of liberal America, including the comedian Al Franken and the writer Gore Vidal. Clooney is their ideological soulmate: winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor last week, for his role in the political thriller Syriana, he declared himself "proud to be out of touch" if that meant supporting unpopular liberal causes.

Launched less than a year ago, the blog (at www.huffingtonpost.com) surprised skeptics by becoming a much-quoted source. Ms Huffington said more than 99% of her bloggers posted their writing directly to the site but she believed she had a role to play encouraging new voices to enter the "blogosphere". She sent a sample posting to Clooney’s representatives, she said, and was surprised when it was sent back with no changes. "Obviously I’ve learnt something from this. This was the first time approval came from a publicist instead of my being in direct communication with a principal."