Barbara Walters Picks Her Most Fascinating Person

And it's Amal Clooney
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 15, 2014 8:27 AM CST
Barbara Walters Picks Her Most Fascinating Person
Lawyer Amal Clooney arrives at Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece, on Oct. 15, 2014.   (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Amal Clooney, the human rights lawyer who managed to snag George Clooney as a husband this year, also managed to snag the top spot on Barbara Walters' annual list of the most fascinating people last night. Interestingly, it was Walters to whom Mr. Clooney said, back in 1995, "I'm never going to get married again," ABC News reports. In 2006, he told Walters that his 1995 statement was circulated around so much he didn't even have to tell new love interests about his feelings on marriage because they already knew. "You did my work for me," he said. Of course, after meeting the former Amal Alamuddin at a charity event last year, he had to eat his words. Walters last night referred to Amal marrying the actor as "one of the greatest achievements in human history." Really.

As AOL reports, there was some controversy over Walters' selection of Amal (who was not interviewed for last night's TV special). Some angry commenters called the choice sexist, while at the Washington Post, Emily Yahr points out some of the past titleholders (including Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, and Mother Teresa) and writes, "Yes, in Walters' world, marrying Hollywood's most notorious bachelor puts you on par with Mother Teresa." The nine other "most fascinating" people, per E!: Scarlett Johansson, Neil Patrick Harris, David Koch, Oprah Winfrey, Chelsea Handler, Michael Strahan, Elon Musk, George RR Martin, and Taylor Swift, who took No. 2. (Next for the Clooneys: a baby?)

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