--- title: George Clooney Got Engaged, but Why Would Anyone Marry Him? description: Amal Alamuddin is an Oxford-educated human-rights lawyer. She can do better canonical: https://time.com/79338/why-would-anyone-marry-george-clooney/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-28T21:42:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:27.556Z og:title: Why Would Anyone Marry George Clooney? Amal Alamuddin Can Do Better. og:description: Amal Alamuddin is an Oxford-educated human-rights lawyer. She can do better og:url: https://time.com/79338/why-would-anyone-marry-george-clooney/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dfac988df1a2b43/69868ce33bc999e7bc1a32df/467857169.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2293 og:image:height: 1290 og:image:alt: 'The Monuments Men' Premiere - 64th Berlinale International Film Festival og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Would Anyone Marry George Clooney? Amal Alamuddin Can Do Better. twitter:description: Amal Alamuddin is an Oxford-educated human-rights lawyer. She can do better twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dfac988df1a2b43/69868ce33bc999e7bc1a32df/467857169.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Would Anyone Marry George Clooney? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=e0b3cc69-e88b-4b71-9145-2c252dda31a5&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) ## Video: George Clooney Engaged to Amal Alamuddin [Watch (HLS stream): George Clooney Engaged to Amal Alamuddin](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RNLtkp84.m3u8) (1:40)  _Published 2014-04-28. Longtime Hollywood bachelor George Clooney is engaged to attorney Amal Alamuddin, according her law firm._  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Apr 28, 2014 9:42 PM UTC  George Clooney attends The Monuments Men premiere during the 64th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin on Feb. 8, 2014 George Clooney attends The Monuments Men premiere during the 64th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin on Feb. 8, 2014 Luca Teuchmann—WireImage  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Apr 28, 2014 9:42 PM UTC Poor George. He dated every B-list model he could, but never got a ring on his finger. He stands by as BFFs Matt Damon and Brad Pitt get photographed with their broods of cute kids. He watched his beautiful ex-wife Talia Balsam and her new husband John Slattery become a _Mad Men_ power couple. George Clooney: always a groomsman, never a groom. But those days are over. He’s finally been swept off his feet by the brilliant and talented Amal Alamuddin, and her law firm has confirmed the pair are engaged. Maybe finally Clooney can get a shred of happiness in his lonely, barren life. Jennifer Aniston knows what it’s like. [Amal Alamuddin](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/things-george-clooneys-girlfriend-amal-alamuddin/story?id=22960268) might as well have ridden up on a white horse. She speaks English, French and Arabic. She has degrees from Oxford and NYU. She’s advised former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Ukraine’s ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. And she’s been listed as one of the 21 hottest barristers in London by [this random blog](http://yourbarristerboyfriend.tumblr.com/tagged/officialbarristerhottiespt22013). So why the hell would she marry George Clooney? Scratch that, why would _anyone_ marry George Clooney? Don’t get me wrong, Clooney is plenty handsome and likeable. He’s won two Oscars and has been nominated for four others. He raised awareness of the crisis in Darfur, and he’s got a reputation for being one of the last genuinely nice and down-to-earth guys in Hollywood. But marriage material? No, sir. He’s 16 years Alamuddin’s senior and has a taste for models and cocktail waitresses. He’s proudly commitment-phobic. He’s rich, but then again, so is she. And he’s got some serious baggage: Clooney’s dated everyone from British model Lisa Snowdon to cocktail waitress Sarah Larson to Italian TV presenter Elisabetta Canalis to wrestler turned model Stacey Keibler. He might as well be the village bicycle. Most importantly, Clooney has said over and over again that he sucks at being married. “I keep saying I’ll never get married again or have children,” he told [_Express_](http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/453293/Why-won-t-people-believe-I-ll-never-marry-again) magazine in January, “but people just don’t want to believe me.” That piece was published four months into his seven-month relationship with Alamuddin. When men insist they’re bad at relationships, it only makes them more attractive to women who are trying to “tame” them. But it’s a mating strategy that makes zero sense. People are usually pretty self-aware about their strengths and weaknesses, and Clooney has a reputation for being a smart and insightful person, so we should take his word for it, and so should Alamuddin. He’s said he sucks at marriage [seven different times](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/george-clooneys-gloomy-quotes-marriage/story?id=23500436) in different public interviews over the years. Sounds like he sucks at it. Besides, what normal woman would want to be married to George Clooney? Sure, you could go to Lake Como a lot, but the drawbacks far outweigh the perks. Models would always be smirking at him, reporters would always be asking about the state of your marriage, tabloids would speculate doom every time he goes out alone. You’d probably have to be photographed next to your husband’s best friend’s wife, who happens to be Angelina Jolie. Your husband would wear fancier clothes than you. So, Amal, you seem like a smart lady and I wish you the best of luck. But I wouldn’t trade places with you in a million years. ## Transcript You may need to sit down for this one. People has confirmed that Hollywood's most eligible bachelor, George Clooney is engaged. The 52- year- old actor pops the question to Amal Alamuddin. People source says that the couple is trying to keep things very low key but they also aren't really trying to hide this. I think it's like they want the people they love to know that this is real, that they plan on being together forever. The rumors began flying late last week after Alamuddin was spotted at a Malibu restaurant with what looks like a huge ring on that significant finger. Clooney's made quite a catch. 36 year old Alamuddin is an accomplished lawyer specializing in international law and human rights. Her client list includes WikiLeaks founder Juilan Assange. As for Clooney, well he's Clooney. The actor's aversion to marriage, despite numerous serious relationships, had been a constant. Clooney was married once before. In 1989, he wed actress Talia Balsam, but the couple divorced by 1993. And the actor has shown about zero inclination to walk down the aisle since then. He told Esquire, I haven't had aspirations in that way, ever. I was married in 1989. I wasn't very good at it. The news got Clooney's name trending on Twitter, Monday, and of course, the responses from fans ranged from surprise, to sentiments like, my life is over. Alamuddin and Clooney were first spotted together in the fall. A rep for the actor said only that he does not comment on his client's personal life. Thanks for watching, I'm Lauren Zima. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/79338/why-would-anyone-marry-george-clooney/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/79338/why-would-anyone-marry-george-clooney/"},"headline":"Why Would Anyone Marry George Clooney?","datePublished":"2014-04-28T21:42:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:02:27.556Z","description":"Amal Alamuddin is an Oxford-educated human-rights lawyer, he's a flaky actor with lots of baggage. 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