Amal Clooney 'faced sexual harassment in legal world' says husband George Clooney

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Amal and George Clooney Credit: Reuters

George Clooney has disclosed that his wife Amal, the high profile human rights lawyer, faced sexual harassment in the legal world.

The actor's comments came as he discussed the fallout from allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein that sent shockwaves through Hollywood in recent weeks.

"The whole culture of this is going to have to stop. This isn't just showbiz, it's everywhere. It isn't just Fox News, it's in (Washington) DC clearly," Clooney told US television.

"My wife, who is a human rights lawyer, says she's faced those exact kinds of situations in law. So it's everywhere, it needs to be addressed as a problem for all of us.

Clooney added: "My wife is a very smart, very together, very accomplished human rights lawyer and she said ‘There have been times in my life, in the law community, I had to tell someone to knock it off'. So it happens everywhere."

The actor gave no details of harassment encountered by his British-Lebanese wife in the legal world.

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Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney with Yazidi survivor Nadia Murad Credit: Lucas Jackson

Discussing Weinstein he added that "Harvey's going to get his and deserves it," and said other people in the industry had helped the producer.

Clooney said: "I want to know who took women up to a hotel room and then left them there for Harvey. I want to know who did that."

Meanwhile, fellow actor Matt Damon said he had known about an incident in which Gwyneth Paltrow said she was harassed by Weinstein.

Paltrow recently described how, when she was 22, the studio chief summoned her to his hotel room and tried t​o​ get her to give him a massage.

She told her then boyfriend Brad Pitt, who confronted Weinstein. Paltrow later had a relationship with Damon's friend Ben Affleck.

Damon said: "I knew the story about Gwyneth from Ben. I knew that story. But I was working with Gwyneth and with Harvey on the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley.

"I never talked to Gwyneth about it but Ben told me that whatever or agreement they had come to there was an understanding. And he treated her incredibly respectfully. Always."

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