Aug. 29:George Clooney accepts the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award during the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards. (AP)
George Clooney’s work in spearheading fundraising efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina five years ago, as well as assisting victims of the genocide in Darfur, was recognized at the Emmy’s on Sunday evening, as he became the 2010 recipient of the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. The A-list actor received a standing ovation as he took the stage to accept the honor, but humbly insisted that the audience be seated.
"It's embarrassing,” he later said backstage. “You don't want to be awarded for doing what you're supposed to be doing."
Unlike so many in Hollywood who seem to take it upon themselves to become self-titled “experts” in areas other than the entertainment industry, Clooney claims not to inflate himself with any extra qualifications.
"I said I wasn't a Haiti expert. I was a fund-raising expert more than anything,” he explained. "I don't particularly do more than anybody else in the position I'm in. I try to pick subjects that I can learn about and focus on and then do as much as I can."
WATCH GEORGE CLOONEY'S HILARIOUS 'MODERN FAMILY' BIT.
And although so much attention these days is devoted to the party/prison/pokey adventures of Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson’s racist rants, and Tiger Woods’s string of scandalous affairs – Clooney wants the world to know that plenty of good can come from celebrity culture too.
"If you have a tremendous amount of heat from the spotlight, then you're able to shine a light in a different direction, and it's just deflecting," he continued. "My dad calls it a celebrity credit card that you try to cash in other places."
Clooney also firmly debunked those recent rumors that his relationship with model/actress Elisabetta Canalis had come to an end.
“She picked me up in Italy,” he boasted, referring to Canalis who had followed him backstage.
Trending
Who's making headlines in television, music, movies and more from Hollywood to the Heartland.