There were chaotic scenes both outside and inside a Milan court on Friday, the day George Clooney came to town. The actor was there to testify against three people – now named as Vincenzo Cannalire, Francesco Galdelli and Vania Goffi – who allegedly used Clooney’s name without his consent for a fashion label.
As Clooney, flanked by police and security guards, walked to the court building, hundreds of fans gathered to get a glimpse of him. Clooney joked, “Don’t crush my lawyer” and smilingly stopped to give some autographs.
Inside the building, the crush was just as bad as even courtroom employees pressed around Clooney and tried to photograph him. So many people wanted to get into the courtroom that the judge had to move the proceedings to a larger one. For the sake of order, the judge banned photography in the room and had one woman removed for trying to snap Clooney with her mobile phone.
When asked to list the Italian products that do legally use the Clooney name or image in their advertising, the actor joked, “You all know the Martini one, right? No Martini, no party”. He said that some photographs showing him with the accused had been faked. In all, Clooney testified for two hours – “as long as a film”, quipped the judge.
This is a video of George Clooney going out from Milan's Court House:
Meanwhile, gossip columnists who have been reporting that George Clooney and his Italian girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis are about to split have been wondering if George has fallen for another dark-haired beauty with Italian blood, the Irish – Italian actress Sonya Macari.
Macari, who found fame in the American TV series, “The Tudors”, met Clooney in 2007 and the two have met at several Hollywood functions. The rumours started again when they were photographed together at the Writers’ Guild of America.
However, Sonya’s sister, the actress, model and TV presenter Virginia Macari, has denied a romance, saying that Sonya and George are just good friends. Virginia told Herald.ie that Sonya is very much in love with her Irish fiancé, the singer Colin Devlin and the two plan to marry next year.
Clooney may well be on the wedding guest list.
