GEORGE CLOONEY - CLOONEY'S DAD TOLD HIM TO FACE UP TO ANTI-WAR CRITICISM

CLOONEY'S DAD TOLD HIM TO FACE UP TO ANTI-WAR CRITICISM

GEORGE CLOONEY's TV anchorman father NICK urged his superstar son to "grow up" when the actor began to doubt his outspoken stance against the Iraq war. The Three Kings star recalls the "brutal" backlash against him when he criticised America's plans to invade Iraq in 2003. But his dad soon convinced him his trials paled in comparison to previous anti-war celebrities such as boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Clooney says, "He (my father) was like, 'Grow up. You're a big kid. You can take this. This isn't bad. This isn't anything.' "Muhammad Ali gave up his heavyweight champion's belt and risked going to prison and had to go to the Supreme Court for something on a much bigger scale - becoming a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War."