Clooney ditches Oscars for budding Lebanese ‘romance’

George Clooney was notably absent at the Oscars award show; allegedly passing on the star-studded event in favor of spending a night in London where his new "love interest" reportedly lives.

Sources say Clooney was in London on Saturday night, where his new Lebanese love interest currently resides, in a sign the relationship with the controversial Middle Eastern lawyer is heating up, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

Amal Alamuddin, the actor's new love interest, first sparked tabloid interest last month when she and the actor were spotted out to dinner in the UK capital. Despite Clooney denying the alleged romance, calling her "just a friend," Alamudden accompanied Clooney to a White House screen of his film Monuments Men only weeks later.

Only hours after the private screening with U.S. President Barack Obama, Clooney and Alamuddin were pictured intimately together at a Washington, D.C. bar with Monument Men co-stars Matt Damon and Bill Murray.

Miss Alamuddin is currently representing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in his extradition proceedings with Sweden. The Australian hacker and rogue online publisher is currently wanted for questioning in Sweden in a sexual assault case.

The perpetual Hollywood bachelor also skipped the pre-Oscar festivities and the after parties Sunday night.

The award-winning film Gravity, in which Clooney starred in alongside Sandra Bullock, won several awards at the Saturday night show. The actor himself was not up for a nomination.