The skinny on the split; Plus, news on Halle, Nicole, Cam and Justin, and Ben and Jen
Jan. 10, 2005
Show of hands, people. How many of you gasped just a little when you heard that Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt had decided to end their 4-year-old marriage?
Yeah, us too.
We know we should have seen it coming, what with the endless tabloid stories, the lack of public appearances, Jen's missing wedding ring, and the fact that most Hollywood marriages have an expiration date shorter than a box of cereal.
And yet, as cynical as we tend to be with all things celebrity, we foolishly held out hope that Brad and Jen were going to make it. Why? Because if you take away the wealth, the fame, the matching buttery blond highlights, and the beauty (on both sides), they seemed almost ... normal. Seriously, who would you rather have dinner with -- the Pitts or the Federlines?
But the sheen is now permanently off Hollywood's golden couple, although they took pains in their announcement to quell the whispers that have swirled around them for the past several months.
"For those who follow these sorts of things, we would like to explain that our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media," Aniston, 35, and Pitt, 41, said in a joint statement to People on Friday, one day before they shared a private plane back to Los Angeles. "This decision is the result of much thoughtful consideration. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another."
As expected, the rumor mill is churning out theories as to what ultimately doomed the genetically gifted twosome. Here's a rundown of the current circumstantial evidence:
Family vs. Career
"God, I'm going to say it," an emotional Pitt told Diane Sawyer on Dec. 2. "Kids. Family. I'm thinking family. Yeah, I got family on the mind." Did Brad's desire to be a daddy spell the end of the relationship?
"It's about the children," an insider tells the New York Post. "She doesn't want kids right now -- and he wants kids."
Adds a mole to People magazine, "She has been resisting having a child for a number of reasons. One was her career. Also, she wanted to make sure that [the marriage] would last. There was a little doubt that crept in. He was much more interested in having a child."
When "Friends" wrapped in early 2004, Aniston seemed ready to hop on the mommy track, which the media had had her on since she and Pitt tied the knot in a million-dollar ceremony in July 2000.
"It's exciting," she gushed to Oprah. "I didn't want to have children while I was on the show ... but this new chapter is perfect."
She added to Diane Sawyer, "I've liked working right now -- I really love it. But I also feel that this'll be probably the most important job I'll ever do, having a baby, so that deserves time like my career deserves time."
But the duo, who reportedly had a nursery added to their $13.5 million Beverly Hills mansion, spent many months living apart in 2004 as they filmed and promoted their various big screen endeavors, and Aniston booked back-to-back-to-back projects that left little time for the stork.
The Angelina Jolie Factor
Tongues have been wagging for months over rumors that Pitt and Jolie took their reel-life relationship as husband and wife secret agents in the upcoming "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" into real life, a charge denied by both camps.
"I get it, it fits into a lot of archetypes," Pitt said in May. "I've never seen anyone so misperceived as Jolie. She's a really decent human being and dedicated with her U.N. work and very dedicated to her child."
Asserted Angelina in October, "I wouldn't sleep with a married man. I have enough lovers. I don't need Brad."
A source who worked on the film is quick to defend the actor, telling People, "Brad is a very monogamous person. He's always been with one woman. He doesn't stray."
But the insider adds that Pitt, who purportedly spent hours on the set of the spy flick playing with the actress' son, Maddox, "was influenced by [Jolie]," especially with her humanitarian work.
"He changed," says the spy of the "Troy" pin-up, who traveled to Ethiopia in November to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic. "It might be slight, but it's noticeable. And Jennifer knew it."
Meanwhile, London's News of the World claims the marriage hit the wall after Aniston allegedly overheard her husband having a steamy conversation with the former Mrs. Billy Bob Thornton at their Beverly Hills home.
"They'd speak on the phone all the time -- always speaking in hushed tones," a source tattles to the paper. "There was no hiding their affection for each other."
The tab claims Aniston confronted Pitt, who "realized it was the end of the line for their marriage."
But Aniston's rep is quick to dismiss the allegations that Brad and Angelina reached out and touched one another, telling the Chicago Sun-Times the story is "absolutely false trash."
Who Ended It ... and Where?
"I think it was Jen that broke it off," but "he was a half step behind her," a source spit-balls to People.
"The decision to separate had been in the works for several weeks, if not longer, and they only needed to decide when to announce it," explains Us Weekly editor Janice Min to USA Today. "They didn't want it to cast a shadow over the premiere of 'Ocean's Twelve' or the end of 'Friends.'"
And while the News of the World claims the pivotal marital moment took place at the couple's Beverly Hills home, London's Daily Mail says the A-list union went belly-up last month after a heated argument at the Dorchester Hotel (Aniston was in London filming "Derailed"; Pitt was promoting "Ocean's Twelve").
"The marriage was over then and it was her decision," an insider tells the paper. "Jennifer feels that career-wise there's a lot left for her to fulfill. Her words were, 'I don't want to be remembered for playing a fashionable airhead. I want to make serious movies. No one remembers Robin Williams from 'Mork and Mindy.'"
(On a side note, we fondly remember Williams as the jump-suited Mork from Ork, and much prefer a dated rerun to such "serious movies" as "Patch Adams" and "The Final Cut.")
Meanwhile, the New York Post says Brad and Jen decided to go their separate ways "during a tense huddle in their hotel" while vacationing with pals Courteney Cox and David Arquette in Anguilla over the holidays. Not so, says People, which reports they decided to split before the Caribbean getaway but figured "we should still go and have a great time."
A witness tells People that the vacationing couple didn't appear overly demonstrative until confronted by the paparazzi, then "they put their arms around each other and had these big smiles on their faces like they were incredibly happy."
The Aftermath
According to People, Aniston and Pitt phoned friends and family last week to tell them of their separation, but "the calls did not have the teary, pass-the-tissues tone that such heartbreaking news might suggest."
Says a pal, "The decision was good for them. They're getting along. They really care about each other."
Just as with the Tom Cruise-Nicole Kidman split, we'll probably never be privy to the real story, and if our current shame spiral for reporting all this personal information is any indication, it's none of our business anyway.
"I don't think anyone really knows what their issues are," a source tells the New York Daily News. "But they're making the best of this. They're both committed to remaining friends. It's not the end of the world."
Adds an insider to People, "They've changed in the years they've known each other. They live in a fishbowl. They spend so much time trying to figure out how to behave while everyone's looking that they gradually lost sight of themselves as individuals. And despite their nice lifestyle and having everything they might want, they weren't happy. They lost a sense of self."
Let's give the final word to Brad, who presciently told Vanity Fair last June, "I'm not sure it really is in our nature to be with someone for the rest of our lives just because you made this pact. You keep going as long as you keep growing. When that dies, we do."
[ يناير 11, 2005, 10:44 AM: تم تحرير المشاركه من قبل: Remy ]
-------------------- ما في توقيع المشاركات: 28652 | من: كوكب زحل | تاريخ التسجيل: يونيو 2003
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