Clooney in spat with Vegas tycoon over Obama 'insult'

Actor George Clooney stormed out of a dinner with the Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn, claiming that the billionaire had insulted President Barack Obama.

As differing versions emerged of what happened in a restaurant at Mr Wynn’s Encore Hotel, the tycoon responded that the actor had been “drunk” on tequila and had sworn at him.

In a statement Clooney said: “There were nine people at that table so you can ask them. Steve likes to go on rants He called the president an a **** . That is a fact. I said the president was my longtime friend and then he said, ‘Your friend is an a ****’. At that point I told Steve that HE was an a **** and I wasn’t going to sit at his table while he was being such a jackass. And I walked out. There were obviously quite a few more adjectives and adverbs used by both of us. It had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with character.”

Wynn remembered the argument differently, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal that it began when a Hollywood executive at the table told a joke about Mikhail Gorbachev, which led to Clooney “throwing a hissy fit“.

He said Clooney then began talking about Obama’s health reforms, and the actor didn’t like it when he voiced opposition.

“When he’s drinking, he considers himself a close personal buddy of the president,” he said. “The only person who got excited at the table was George, and he ran off to another bar.”