George Clooney phoned White House over fears his wife, Amal Clooney, could face sanctions, report says

A peeved George Clooney complained to the White House after President Joe Biden blasted the International Criminal Court for its case against Israeli leaders – an investigation the Oscar winner’s wife had worked on, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

Clooney phoned Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, last month after Biden denounced the ICC’s request for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as “outrageous,” the Post reported, citing three administration officials.

The two-time Academy Award winner was concerned the Biden administration might impose sanctions on the international court, including his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, the Post said.

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Amal Clooney was on a six-person panel of experts that reviewed evidence of war crimes in Gaza for ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan. In addition to calling for charges against Netanyahu and Gallant, Khan requested the arrest of three top Hamas leaders.

Amal and George Clooney head an international human rights organization, the Clooney Foundation for Justice, and George Clooney was a backer of the now-defunct Enough Project, which focused on war crimes in Sudan.

Clooney is scheduled to appear next week with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, actress Julia Roberts and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel at a Biden fundraiser in Los Angeles.

The White House didn’t respond immediately to a USA TODAY request for comment. A representative for the Clooneys couldn’t be reached.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Clooney phoned White House, concerned for his wife: Report