Associated Press accused of sexism for referring to Amal Clooney as ‘actor’s wife’
The Associated Press news agency has taken flak after it posted a tweet referring to noted human rights lawyer Amal Clooney as an ‘actor’s wife’ in its coverage of an ongoing court case, sparking criticism it has belittled her career in her own right.
Clooney is acting as a civil rights lawyer in the case three Al Jazeera journalists sentenced to prison for propagating ‘false news’, a status overlooked by the AP tweet which read: “Amal Clooney, actor’s wife, representing Al-Jazeera journalist accused in Egypt of ties to extremists.”
Naturally the oversight did not play well on Twitter, where commentators were quick to lambast the news agency for its reporting standards.
how can people take you seriously? @AP what has her personal life to do with her work
— Yvonne ايفون Snitjer (@YvonneSnitjer) August 29, 2015
@AP it's a good job that when she's not being George Clooney's wife she's not like A HIGH PROFILE HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER or anything.
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) August 29, 2015
In later tweets the AP chose to refer to Clooney as a ‘human rights lawyer’.
Amal Clooney married Hollywood Oscar winner George Clooney last year.