Actor George Clooney gave 14 of his best friends $1 million each

The A-list movie star’s best friend Rande Gerber revealed on a recent episode of MSNBC’s Headliners that back in 2013, George not only paid 14 of his closest friends’ taxes for the year, he gave them $1 million each.BEVERLY HILLS, CA – NOVEMBER 09: Actor George Clooney attends the BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 9, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)

As Gerber recalled, “There’s a group of guys that we call ‘The Boys.’ George had called me and ‘The Boys’ and said, ‘Hey, mark September 27, 2013 on your calendar. Everyone’s going to come to my house for dinner.”

When George’s dinner guests arrived they found black suitcases at each of their spots around a table, and the Suburbicon director shared a special message to the men who helped him early in his career.

Rande explained, “George begins to say, ‘Listen, I want you guys to know how much you’ve meant to me and how much you mean to me in my life. I came to L.A., I slept on your couch.

I’m so fortunate in my life to have all of you and I couldn’t be where I am today without all of you. So, it was really important to me that while we’re still all here together, that I give back.So I want you all to open your suitcases.'” Inside was $1 million. As Gerber remembered it, “Every one of us—14 of us—got a million dollars. Every single one of us. We’re in shock. Like, what is this?

He goes, ‘I know we’ve all been through some hard times, some of you are still going through it. You don’t have to worry about your kids, you don’t have to worry about, you know, school, you don’t have to worry about paying your mortgage.'”

And George said, ‘Not only that, I have paid everyone’s taxes so this million dollars is yours.'” Gerber described this never-before-heard story as a testament to Clooney’s character, adding, “This is who George is.”