Paparazzi force George Clooney to sell Italian villa

New York (ANI): George Clooney has put up his villa on Lake Como for sale because of harassment by paparazzi, a leading British daily has reported. According to the Times of London, the Hollywood star wants to sell off the Villa Oleandra at Laglio on Lake Como, which he bought in 2002 for a reported 10 million dollars.

Footie David Beckham and the Russian vodka and banking mogul Tariko Roustam are among those vying for the property, reports The New York Post. Clooney became an honorary citizen of the town of Laglio in northern Italy, in 2004. However his girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis, a former Italian showgirl and television hostess, was said to be “furious and exasperated" last summer when the paparazzi stalked the villa and “made our life Hell."

The couple were especially furious when snappers climbed over the villa wall and took photos of an underage girl while she was changing in one of his guest rooms, as well as photos of Clooney and Canalis.

At the time Clooney said: “I don"t know about the law in the United States, but in Italy it"s illegal for photographers to climb over my wall and to take long lens pictures of a 13-year-old girl in her bedroom. I draw the line of privacy at that."