Tuesday, George Clooney attempted to explain his meltdown a few weeks ago during a dinner appointment with execs at casino mogul Steve Wynn’s Encore hotel, citing his defense of "longtime friend" Obama and arguing it was about "character," not politics.

In the meeting, which included Wynn and eight others, including two executives from CAA, Clooney lost it after one of the execs made a joke about Mikhail Gorbachev and Wynn insulted President Obama. The dinner ended with Clooney calling Wynn an “a**hole” and storming out of the establishment.

Attempting to clarify events, Clooney made a statement, reported by Las Vegas Review Journal Tuesday, explaining that his passionate reaction was about character not politics and that he was simply defending his “longtime friend” Obama:

There were 9 people at that table … So you can ask them … Steve likes to go on rants … HE called the president an asshole … that is a fact. I said that the President was my longtime friend and then he said ‘your friend is an asshole'… At that point I told Steve that HE was an asshole and that I wasn't going to sit at his table while he was being such a jackass. And I walked out. There were obviously quite a few more adjectives and adverbs used by both of us as I left. Those are all the facts. It had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with character.

LVRJ reports that Wynn provided his side of the combative exchange Tuesday, explaining that Clooney “got drunk” and “threw a hissy fit” after one of the CAA executives joked about former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev:

Wynn says he rubbed Clooney the wrong way when the actor “sat down and started talking about the Affordable Care Act.”

“Clooney's fun to be with when he's sober,” Wynn said. “If you have a chance to drink with him, you want to get there early, and don't stay late.”