SPECIAL REPORT: How George & Amal Clooney's 10-Year Marriage is 'At a Crossroads' as Major Cracks Begin to Show
George Amal Clooney's marriage reaches 10 years, facing crossroads as major cracks begin to show.
April 30 2025, Published 8:00 a.m. ET
It was a big night for George Clooney.
At 63 years old, he was making his Broadway debut, and on April 3, the Oscar winner – who co-wrote and stars in Good Night, and Good Luck, the adaptation of his lauded 2005 film – celebrated the play's official opening.
The audience at New York City's Winter Garden Theatre was a who's who of Hollywood, packed with A-listers, from Jennifer Lopez, Cindy Crawford, and Pierce Brosnan to George's old ER costars Julianna Margulies, Anthony Edwards, and Noah Wyle.
But one important person was missing: Amal Clooney, the star's wife of 10 years, was nowhere to be found, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Amal Clooney's absence at George's Broadway debut sparked whispers of marital trouble.
George played the absence off, telling reporters the British barrister, 47, was home "with the kids," twins Alexander and Ella, 7. But privately, he was bereft.
"Certainly, they have options when it comes to childcare so that Amal could get away for a couple of hours," a source said – even if the children had been ill.
Added the insider: "People were whispering, wondering whether there might be trouble in the marriage."
The Way They Were
The couple is indeed at a crossroads, revealed the source – and a long way from the love story the world watched unfold after George fell quietly, quickly and completely for the stunning and brilliant human rights attorney in 2013.
The pair met at his summer home in Italy when a friend brought the Lebanon-born Oxford grad to one of his famous dinner parties.
"I knew fairly quickly that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Amal," the once-notorious bachelor said in 2015, a year after the two wed in Venice.
That same year, he had TV viewers swooning when he addressed his bride from the stage of the Beverly Hilton Hotel and marveled at "whatever alchemy it is that brought us together" while accepting the Cecil B. deMille Lifetime Achievement Award at the Golden Globes.
George celebrated his big night alone as Amal stayed home with their twins.
Amal was smitten as well. In 2018, she told Vogue that falling for the Out of Sight actor "felt like the most natural thing in the world."
She, too, publicly declared her love while being honored with an award. "You, my love... take my breath away, and you make our lives magical. It is sometimes hard to believe you exist," she said in 2023, thanking him for being "the brightest light in my life."
George and Amal, the source explained, "have been a golden couple for so long" that most can't recall seeing them less than perfectly in love in public.
In private, however, "their relationship hasn't been looking so perfect," the source confirmed. "Friends are hoping what they're now facing doesn't mean they're headed for divorce."
Insiders claimed George is quietly struggling without Amal’s support.
Work Conflicts
One issue is their demanding professional lives. Early in their marriage, the pair was united in navigating their busy schedules.
"Our deal is that we can't be more than a week apart," George explained.
Even recently, they seemed to be sticking to it.
Despite speculation they'd be on different continents while he was in the Big Apple for his Broadway run away from the family's home base, an 18th-century estate in France's Provence region – Amal and the twins wound up joining him in the States.
"A play is kind of a good schedule [for a dad], because you're working at night,” George told TV host Stephen Colbert in February. "You get to see the kids during the day."
As the show ramped up, however, he was less available.
“George had no idea how much work goes into putting on a Broadway show. It's consumed him day and night," explained the source, who said when the Syriana star isn't on stage, he's distracted by the details, pressure and sheer enormity of the production, which in March broke a Broadway record.
Amal's no-show at George's opening fueled rumors of growing distance.
While still in previews, it grossed $3.3 million in seven days – the most a nonmusical has ever earned during a single week on the Great White Way (the top ticket price is $775).
Amal, whose profession requires her to be hyper-focused on world events, "isn't happy that work continues to take up so much of his time," said the source.
"That wasn't the plan when they agreed to move the family to New York for the play's duration."
With the two living virtually separate lives, the 2024 Legal 500 International Lawyer of the Year winner is bristling at being expected to be the perfect stay-at-home wife: "She's willing to support George, but not if it means her career comes second."
Jennifer Lopez and Cindy Crawford were among the celebrities who packed the theater for George's big Broadway night.
More Drama
Her husband's recent political gaffes haven't helped the situation. Last July, the lifelong Democrat raised eyebrows with a New York Times op-ed calling for then-President Joe Biden, 82, to drop out as his party's candidate amid concerns about his advancing age.
The controversy was reignited in April when, in the new book Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History, author Chris Whipple described an "apoplectic" George going "ballistic" on an MSNBC producer after Morning Joe cohost Mika Brzezinski implied on air that former President Barack Obama, 63, had been behind the op-ed.
According to a December report, George was also left stewing after his subsequent endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris, 60, for the country's top job fizzled.
He had to face the fact that his "opinion doesn't carry as much weight as he thought," leaving him "with major egg on his face," said the report, claiming that Amal was "running out of patience with her husband's political missteps."
Tension over career priorities is straining George and Amal's golden image.
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The hit to his ego, the report added, made George "moody," a state "Amal won't put up with... for long."
The source acknowledged that the backlash, coupled with the pressure of the play, "has put George in a bad mood. He can be unbearable to be around sometimes."
On stage, his political drama, on the other hand, has scored the actor more positive reviews. Good Night, and Good Luck chronicles legendary CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow's courageous stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist tactics during the 1950s.
"His subtlety [on stage] shows a remarkable improvement over his work in films," wrote a critic for The Observer, while The Times praised his “refusal to grandstand as an actor."
The Hollywood Reporter branded his "vanity-free performance" a "creditable Broadway debut."
Amal's absence reportedly left George fielding questions about the state of their marriage.
Wake-Up Call
George has repeatedly admitted how "very lucky" he is to have Amal – four years ago, he even claimed they'd never had an argument.
Now that the going is getting tough, he's struggling to get back to that place, said the source. "He respects and loves Amal."
With almost $600 million at stake, a split could get ugly. Worse, it would mean less time with his beloved kids.
The source added: "As an older dad, that would just crush him.
"George needs to rearrange his priorities and put his wife and family first."
