Clooney slams 'lies' over telethon

George Clooney is trading verbal blows with a US TV host who has attacked a recent celebrity telethon in aid of the victims of the 11 September atrocity.

Bill O'Reilly denounced stars like Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks and Brad Pitt for not going on his show to defend themselves against reports that money they helped to raise is not going to the victims. He said they had gone "missing in action" after receiving "publicity" from the fundraiser.

Now Clooney, 40, a driving force behind the telethon, has written angrily to O'Reilly, saying: "Your accusation that the fund is being mishandled and misused is nothing short of a lie. The fund has already handed out some $36million to victims' families with over $230 million more to be allocated ... If you were a journalist, you would have known that."