Ryan Reynolds sold his Aviation Gin brand for $610 million then apologized to tequila founder George Clooney in an out-of-office email

• Ryan Reynolds has set a tongue-in-cheek "out of office" email message in response to selling his premium gin brand Aviation American Gin to the drinks heavyweight Diageo for $610 million.
• When someone tries to email the "Deadpool" star, they receive an automatic bounceback email that says: "Thanks for your email. I am currently out of the office but will still be very hard at work selling Aviation Gin. For quite a long time, it seems."
• Under the terms of the lucrative deal, Reynolds will remain as the public face of the brand for the next 10 years and receive payments based on the brand's future performance.
• Joking about the small print of the deal in his email, Reynolds wrote: "I just learned what an 'earn out' is... And I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone I told to go f--- themselves in the last 24 hours."
• Reynolds listed a host of people he'd like to "apologize" to, including George Clooney, who sold his tequila brand Casamigos (also to Diageo) for $1 billion in 2017.

Ryan Reynolds has set a tongue-in-cheek "out of office" email message in response to selling his premium gin brand, Aviation American Gin, to the drinks heavyweight Diageo for $610 million.

When someone now tries to email the "Deadpool" star, they receive an automatic bounceback email that says: "Thanks for your email. I am currently out of the office but will still be very hard at work selling Aviation Gin. For quite a long time, it seems."

According to Bloomberg's report, Reynolds will remain as the public face of the brand for the next 10 years, receiving a partial upfront payment for the sale now with all further payments based on the future performance of the brand.

Joking about the small print of the deal in his email, Reynolds wrote: "I just learned what an 'earn out' is... And I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone I told to go f--- themselves in the last 24 hours. My lawyers just explained how long it takes to achieve an 'earn out'... so... turns out I'm not as George Clooney as I thought."

Clooney, of course, sold his premier tequila brand Casamigos to Diageo in 2017 for $1 billion.

"The point is, to those listed below, I'm sorry ... and I'll indeed be needing your help in the coming months and years. Thanks in advance!" Reynolds continues in the email.

Reynolds then proceeds to list a host of people from his wife, the actress Blake Lively, to TGI Friday's and AMC Theaters.

The "Deadpool" star is the latest celebrity to cash in on the luxury drinks market. Diageo has also teamed up with David Beckham for his Haig Club whisky, and P-Diddy to sell Ciroc vodka.

According to Forbes magazine, Reynolds was the second-highest-paid actor of 2020, right behind the "Jumanji" star The Rock. The magazine reports that Reynolds took home more than $20 million for each of his past two Netflix films, "Six Underground" and "Red Notice."

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