May 31, 2025 08:24 PM IST
George Clooney sure knows how to pay it back — and this is as literal as it gets!
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
While once upon a time it was Hollywood’s hall of fame veteran George Clooney who was the friend in need, the actor, despite tripling down on the success and the accolades, hasn’t forgotten the people who were there for him through thick and thin, before his name became an institution in itself.
Back in 2013, far long ahead of his days of struggle, George decided to pay it all back — and quite literally at that. He purchased 14 posh Tumi suitcases and filled each of them with a million dollars each. He then got down to planning a dinner party with the 14 recipients — his closest friends over 35 years — and surprised them on the spot. And if you happen to be wondering, George made sure to pay the required taxes on the bounty amounts, making sure that the million-dollar gifts, were not a penny less than that.
What pushed him to work out this big, little gesture but?
In an interview with GQ, George reflected, “I’ve slept on their couches when I was broke. They loaned me money when I was broke. They helped me when I needed help over the years. And I’ve helped them over the years”. He continued, “I just held up a map and I just pointed to all the places I got to go in the world and all the things I’ve gotten to see because of them. And I said, ‘How do you repay people like that?’. And I said, ‘Oh well, how about a million bucks?’.
Randy Gerber, one among George’s 14 comrades, had shared with MSNBC back in 2017 how the gesture, “pretty much sums up who George is”. Randy recalls George saying, “I know we’ve all been through some hard times, some of you are still going through it. You don’t have to worry about your kids; you don’t have to worry about school; you don’t have to worry about paying your mortgage”.
What do you think about George’s grand gesture for his friends?
