George Clooney issues denial to Web sites

George Clooney arrives at the Armani Prive pre-Oscars fashion show in Beverly Hills, Calif., in this file photo from Feb. 24, 2007. [AP photo]

LOS ANGELES - George Clooney personally responded Thursday to rumors circulated by two gossip Web sites. The Oscar winner sent a note to Radaronline.com and Defamer.com. Both sites hinted this week that Clooney was responsible for releasing outtakes from the movie "I (Heart) Huckabees" that show director David O. Russell yelling at actress Lily Tomlin.

The sites noted that Clooney, who had a well-publicized fight with Russell on the set of the film "Three Kings," is currently working with sound mixer Ed Tise, who also worked on "Huckabees."

Neither had a role in the clip's release, Clooney said.

"Contrary to popular opinion, neither the sound man, Ed Tise, nor yours truly sent in the David O. Russell tape," Clooney wrote in the note released by his publicist, Stan Rosenfield. "I saw it when we were working on `Ocean's 12,' and there have been quite a few copies traveling around town for the last couple of years. Any rumor that either of us put it on the Internet is simply false. And I'd offer a million bucks to anyone who would prove otherwise."