Does George Clooney look different in these photos? I know he’s rocking some new facial hair these days, but I feel like something else is “different.” I can’t put my finger on what it is though. These pics are of Clooney in Scotland on Thursday. He was in Edinburgh, and he was being treated like he was making a royal visit, hand to God. He had a police escort, crazy fans swarming him, and a phalanx of press trailing him. He stopped by a sandwich shop called Social Bite, which is run and operated by the formerly homeless. That’s why he was in Edinburgh, just to visit this sandwich shop. The owner sent him an email, basically saying “Hey, if you’re ever in Edinburgh, it would be great if you could draw attention to our little shop!” And Clooney came. I actually think this is better than royalty. He’s doing this for fun, because he’s a good guy, because he cares about the issue, not because it “counts” as an “event.”
Meanwhile, there’s a rumor in this week’s tabloids that Clooney’s Casamigos Tequila is being produced in Mexican sweatshops, with underpaid and underage labor. Casamigos is owned by Clooney and Rande Gerber, and for the past several years, they’ve treated the tequila company as their baby, doing constant promotion for it and even having the tequila featured in every single story about Clooney’s wedding. And all this time, I didn’t realize that it is made in Mexico, although Clooney issued a lengthy statement to Gossip Cop saying that of course he would never use sweatshop labor.
“Casamigos is the fastest growing Premium Tequila brand in the U.S. and unknown third parties may be trying to tarnish their reputation by falsifying a story and shopping it to tabloids. In fact, the National Enquirer squashed the story they were sold when it was brought to their attention the story was fabricated and the reality is the complete opposite of what they were being sold. Our lawyers were in fact told by the National Enquirer that given the evidence, they halted their cover story. Their sister company, OK Magazine had already gone to print so it was too late to stop the story. They promised it would not be released online, and it hasn’t. The fact is, Casamigos Tequila is produced at the finest and most respected distillery in a small agricultural town in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. The distillery and its operations are fully regulated, approved annually, and monitored on a daily basis by the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (“CRT”), the tequila industry’s regulatory agency. We visited the distillery earlier this year and saw none of the supposed conditions listed by this tabloid.
Further, our U.S.-based and local representatives have made frequent visits to the distillery over the last five years and have not observed any of the conditions listed by this tabloid. In fact, our representative (a U.S.-based veteran in the spirits production industry) happens to be in Jalisco at the distillery last week and consulted with us regarding the actual conditions at the distillery now. Based on assurances directly from the distillery owners, all staff are of legal working age, the staff is paid well above what Mexican law requires, overtime work is optional and is compensated by overtime pay, and the working conditions at the distillery are sanitary, safe, and consistent with industry standards as confirmed by the CRT during their normal audits of the distillery.
The distillery is an important local employer that has been in business for nearly 20 years. They have earned ISO and other well-known certifications regarding the quality and effectiveness of their operation. We are proud that our brand’s business growth has helped create jobs both in Jalisco and in the USA. Casamigos is confident that the allegations contained in this tabloid story are completely false. If we had found any single part of this to be true, it would have been addressed immediately and very publicly.”
Okay. I believe him. I’ll accuse George Clooney of many, many things (CONTRACTUAL LOVE), but I think he’s smart enough to understand that everything about his tequila company needs to be above-board. He also knows that he wouldn’t be able to issue such a thorough denial if he didn’t have all of his tequila-soaked ducks in a row.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmbW1mbIJze8islqCdn6e0pqvCpaaoppWuwKCvwKyYpqGXpMCgwMSqrKKkkZS6orDEmKCnl52axaqvwKeWrK%2BVlsG0tM6pqpimn2Q%3D