Just a trophy wife? Far from it. From facing life-threatening danger to
speaking in the halls of the UN, Amal Clooney is a real-life action star.
Amal Clooney's repertoire of work primarily involves fighting for the rights of migrants and
refugees, while still being on a red carpet. The issue is an important one for Clooney,
as she hails from a refugee family. Born in war-torn Lebanon in the capital of Beirut
in 1978 as Amal Alamuddin, she moved with her family to the United Kingdom at a young age.
Her childhood in her native country was shadowed by the Lebanese Civil War, which involved 15 years
of armed conflict. According to Clooney's mother, Baria Alamuddin, she was advised to terminate
the pregnancy due to health complications. Alamuddin refused and Amal was born "exactly
as [she] saw her" in her dreams, according to Vogue. Amal's name means hope in Arabic.
After attending an all-girls school, Clooney pursued law at the University of Oxford,
following it up with a course at New York University, according to Hello!. Recognizing the
safe environment and education she was given while growing up in the United Kingdom, Clooney said:
"I wish that were happening in more places around the world."
Her international portfolio includes several cases involving her home country of Lebanon,
one of the most notable being the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
In the forefront of Amal Clooney's accomplished legal career is her
vehement fight to bring the offenders of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,
or ISIS, to justice. Responsible for the persecution of religious minorities in Iraq,
ISIS leaders have been accused of instigating a genocide against the Yazidi community,
involving brutal criminal acts from executions to sexual assaults, according to National Geographic.
Nadia Murad a Nobel Laureate who has emerged as one of Clooney's most high-profile clients,
is an Iraqi Yazidi woman who testified to being captured,
enslaved, and tortured by ISIS, according to The Guardian.
Clooney and Murad have worked together since 2016 to fight for the Yazidi cause and in 2021,
they helped convict an ISIS member for genocide.
"We know that it's genocide, the UN has said so, um, in other words,
ISIS is trying to destory them as a group."
It was the first conviction of a member of the terrorist group. Clooney,
representing the female survivor, said at the time:
"This is the moment Yazidis have been waiting for."
At her very first appearance at the United Nations in 2016, Clooney made a searing speech
highlighting the human rights atrocities against Yazidis. She stated at the forum:
"I am ashamed as a supporter of the United Nations that states
are failing to prevent or even punish genocide."
She continued by saying that ISIS violations are the "worst system
of sexual abuse and slavery of women" seen in her lifetime, according to Time.
Amal Clooney’s merit as an international human rights attorney is well-established. She works
with Doughty Street Chambers and is counted among the brightest legal minds from Britain,
as noted by the Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 directories.
Her rankings recognize her as a very effective and focused
advocate. Clooney is fiercely passionate about her work and doesn't shy away from
controversy spurred on by her cases, according to a source quoted by People.
Clooney stands out in her profession, having worked with significant entities
like the U.K. attorney general's team and serving as the senior advisor to
the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan.
Clooney's record shows she hasn't ever been fearful of taking a powerful stand,
making statements in favor of persecuted journalists as well
as criticizing silence from world leaders on human rights issues. She told Time:
"I'm guided by what I'm really outraged about and what I think I can actually try to influence.”
Established in 2016, Amal and George Clooney helm the Clooney Foundation for Justice,
which helps oppressed groups facing human rights abuses.
Before meeting Amal, actor George Clooney was seemingly determined to never board
the marriage bandwagon. Following his divorce from actor Talia Balsam in 1992,
Hollywood's eternally eligible bachelor declared that he'd never marry again,
according to InStyle. But when he crossed paths with the Lebanese-British barrister
in Italy in 2013 through a common friend, something changed radically. He said:
"I was taken with her from the moment I saw her."
Email exchanges turned into dinner dates and before long,
a romance was brewing. The couple's trip to Kenya sealed the deal for George,
who decided to propose in 2014. The actor told CBS Sunday Morning:
"I was on my knee for like 20 minutes, I finally said, 'Look, I'm gonna throw my hip out."
If marriage came as a surprise to the actor,
fatherhood was another happy shock. He admitted to People that he was initially only up for
parenting one child. But since becoming a father to twins in 2017,
George has been so involved that he apparently made sure their children's
first word was mama. As for Amal, the lawyer told Time that starting a family has been:
"A joy beyond anything I could ever have imagined."
Being Amal Clooney isn't easy. The Lebanese-British public figure,
whose work as a human rights barrister puts her in the international spotlight,
has had to withstand danger from terrorist organizations while continuing to fight for
people. Her husband, famed actor and director George Clooney, told The Hollywood Reporter:
"We've had a lot of real threats, and we take them very seriously."
Clooney seemingly remains undaunted in the face of danger. In 2015, she flew to the Maldives to
represent ex-President Mohamed Nasheed after his counsel was stabbed by an assailant.
George expressed that he was very concerned with her being there and wanted to join her,
but she advised him against it, according to People. And given that her work puts her
on the frontlines, there's the issue of the safety of their children. George told THR:
"We don't really want our kids to be targets, so we have to pay attention to that."
According to Deadline, the Ocean's Eleven actor drew attention in an open letter in 2021,
asking publications to refrain from publishing images of his children, while citing the nature
of his wife's work that required them to take precautions to keep their family safe.
Amal Clooney may be renowned as a lawyer worth her salt,
but there's no missing the mark she's made in the world of showbiz as a fashion icon. By
virtue of her spouse's profession, Clooney has become a recurrent head-turner on red carpets.
Amal and George Clooney have clinched the status of the classiest couple in Hollywood,
according to GQ, with endless memorable fashion moments. It was nothing short of iconic when
Clooney pulled off a pantsuit bridal look on the day her wedding was formalized,
or when she made her Met Gala debut in an exuberant red number.
Clooney has graced endless luxury labels by rocking pieces from designers like
Stella McCartney and Oscar de la Renta. And the lawyer knows how
to let her hair down every once in a while. Her mother revealed to Vogue:
"Amal partied hard and worked hard."
She recalled how her daughter expertly balanced her profession and her propensity
for style. Fashion icon Anna Wintour has even vouched for Clooney's significance,
calling her "a force to be reckoned with."
One would imagine that being an international human rights lawyer
and Hollywood celebrity takes up a significant part of Amal Clooney's
life. But the 44-year-old makes sure to stabilize her busy schedule with enough
time for family. She said after being named one of Time's Women of the Year in 2022:
"I feel so lucky to have found a great love in my life,
and to be a mother — this is how I get my balance."
Amal, who welcomed twins in 2017 with her husband George, is a doting and involved
mother — so much so, that she decided to have only a part-time nanny for their children.
For Amal, the job of parenting sometimes comes with having to
discipline her husband. George joked on Today:
"I really do enjoy teaching my children to do things that shock their mother."
"'Our son is now a big prankster.'
'Yeah.'
'And he's, he's basically,
you've taught him all of these lessons and he's now pranking his dad back."
Even with her hands full, Amal has managed to maintain strong ties with friends who were in
her life before marriage. It's a skill she admitted to inheriting from her journalist
mother, Baria Alamuddin, who also aced the work-life balance. Amal said that her mother:
"Was always a working woman and someone who is independent and
cared about her career and cared about being independent but also had balance."
According to Vogue, Amal Clooney said in a memorable speech:
"As women, we may not be a minority, but there is a bond that we all share. It is
not a bond of geography. Or religion. Or culture. It is a bond of shared
experience — experiences that only women go through, and struggles that only women face."
The human rights barrister is nothing short of a feminist icon — and for good reason.
As an international public figure, Clooney continues to use her extensive influence
and reach to advocate for women's empowerment and gender rights. In an interview for Time,
she gave inspiring advice to young women, saying:
"Reach for the stars and believe in yourselves,
and know that the only thing you can regret is not trying."
Following Donald Trump's election as the U.S. president in 2016, Clooney
urged women to stand up for each other and "commit everyday acts of feminism."
Amal Clooney’s work and marriage to Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney has assigned her a
prominent status as a public figure. Yet she maintains an ambivalent relationship
with fame. Though Clooney famously doesn't see herself as a celebrity,
as noted by Vanity Fair, the paparazzi flock to her when she steps out.
Life as a media darling was something that caught up with Clooney as soon as
she began getting spotted on dates with her actor
husband. George revealed to THR that when they were once leaving dinner:
"There were 50 paparazzi there. But she handled it like a champ."
According to Vogue, Clooney has managed to sidestep the shadow of her husband's
mega-celebrity and carve her own place. Appearing on the BBC, Clooney reflected
that if the media attention she got highlighted human rights causes like that of the Yazidis:
"Then I think it's a really good thing to give that case the extra publicity that it may get."