George Clooney is hopping mad. Apparently photographers climbed over the wall of his Italian estate and snapped some pictures that ended up published in two magazines. The pictures were of a topless 13 year old girl changing in one of the guest rooms of the estate. The thirteen year old was the daughter of Clooney’s house guest. Photographers also snapped pictures of Clooney and new gal pal hottie, Sardinian TV presenter, Elisabetta Canalis sharing a few moments in his yard.

etonline:

ET has learned that George Clooney will file suit against two magazines and a photographer after photos of a 13-year-old guest in his Italian home were taken and published.
The actor released the following statement to ET:

“We’re suing two magazines AND a photographer. I don’t know about the law in the United States but in Italy it’s illegal for photographers to climb over my wall and to take long lens pictures of a 13-year-old girl in her bedroom. I draw the line of privacy at that.”
The shots were published in two magazines. Keep checking back here for the latest details on this story.

Clooney’s summer home is a 15 room estate in Laglio called Villa Oleandra on Lake Como which he bought for a little over seven million from John Kerry. I am sure the property has doubled if not tripled in value by now.
This little bungalow,*snicker* has been SO advertised over the years, it is not a secret where Clooney likes to stay and play while in Italy. It also happens to sit on a Lake Como where anyone is free to travel on. Just one trip to YouTube revealed SEVERAL videos of Clooney’s estate from several people.

Clooney also did an Italian Fiat commercial in the past, and was interviewed at his estate not only by Italian reporters when he was promoting Good Night and Good Luck, but also filmed an entire interview with Diane Sawyer for ABC.

So my question is, did Clooney really think that having such a publicized estate would not blow up in his face some day?  Now I am of course not defending the photogrpahers taking pictures at all, but his residence has been so HIGHLY publicized, you would think at the very least he could of invested in some curtains or some blinds for all the windows? Or if he does have them for all the windows, he should tell people using his estate to close them while  they are changing? If you look at his estate in the picture above, you can see many windows lack any privacy. It’s a shame that celebrities can not buy a home and enjoy it in private, but everyone knows unfortunately that  being hounded is part of the not so fun world of being in the lime light.

Supposedly, Clooney was thinking of selling this Summer estate, when the Mayor of Laglio had big plans to include building a parking lot complete with lifts and moving walkways across the street from the village, as well as a floating bridge that would pass close to Clooney’s villa, Clooney said no dice. Clooney was so opposed to the plans, he joined a committee with locals to have the plans haulted. In 2007, he was quoted as saying:

“I don’t want my presence here to be a pain to the other citizens, but if you ask me these proposals are in every probability just to exploit the fact that I live here,”
“I have no problems with plans that are welcomed by the rest of the community,” he continued. “I am more than happy to sell up and move elsewhere — this project is absurd.”

The mayor did listen, and stopped the plans and stated:

“I decided to give up the project,” adding that Clooney is one of the village’s most beloved residents. “To mister Clooney we gave the honorary citizenship. We all are proud of his choice to live here on Lake Como.”

So kudos for Clooney for keeping Laglio the quaint place that it remains, but with this new development, honorary citizen or not….Clooney may feel that it may be better to pack up and move to a more private area, away from prying eyes.

I do think that Clooney should have kept his estate purchase a little bit more secretive and not publicize it as much as he did. People have camped out around his property to try to catch a glimpse, and security has even resorted to throwing apples at people to shoo them away. Although even with beefed up security, I still don’t see how that would stop tourists or others from taking a camera with a powerful lense and snapping some pictures from a boat on the lake. People can take site seeing tours on the lake. And let’s not forget high power binoculars too. Besides the fact that Clooney has had many famous pals visiting him, and recently offered his estate to David Beckham to stay in. So the photo ops for some juicy and very sellable photos are endless.

If you go to the Clooney Unlmited website, (I never knew this website existed, and it’s a bit obsessive to say the least) you will see TONS of pictures of Clooney in Lake Como. Clooney on his motorcycle, Clooney on his boat, Clooney swimming, you name it. The Mayor of Laglio even declared that Clooney’s estate was off limits and that anyone who did not abide by the ordinance, would be fined:

And the decision of the First citizen to sign an urgent, “with immediate effect and until a new provision – we read – there is no parking near the entrance of Villa Oleandra and related appliances (inputs Villa Margherita and properties up the road 71 Old Queen) and the formation of Capannelli 2 or more people in the stretch of road from the Queen of Laglio pier to the end of the house owned by Margaret and parking in the square of Soldino place in front of villa Oleandra. The order has no value for citizens or residents in the town of Laglio. For offenders, a minimum fine of 19 euro will be the warning, but to repeat the amount could rise rapidly.

I guess that didn’t work. Agian, maybe an easier solution would be to make sure that all blinds are kept closed.When Clooney buys his next estate, perhaps he should try to keep the purchase more on the DL and close the damn blinds!

By Golly These Things Really Do Work!

Source: Queen