Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston Separate
Brad Pitt’s publicist confirms he, Jennifer Aniston have split (AP)
Hollywood glamour couple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have split, Pitt’s longtime publicist confirmed Friday. “We would like to announce that after seven years together we have decided to formally separate,” the couple said in a joint statement released by Pitt’s publicist Cindy Guagenti. “For those who follow these sorts of things, we would like to explain that our separation is not the result of any speculation reported by the tabloid media. This decision is the result of much thoughtful consideration.” The couple didn’t indicate if they planned to file for divorce, and Guagenti declined to comment beyond the statement, which also said, “We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another.” The separation, first reported on People magazine’s Web site, comes 41/2 years after the pair’s Malibu wedding and after months of speculation that their marriage was in trouble. In their statement, they asked for the public’s “sensitivity in the coming months.”
Aniston has recently been photographed in public without her diamond-studded wedding ring, according to People, although the magazine said the couple had spent the New Year’s weekend together on the Caribbean island of Anguilla with Aniston’s former “Friends” co-star Courteney Cox and her husband, actor David Arquette.
Pitt, 41, and Aniston, 35, have been together since being set up on a blind date in 1998. They were married in a lavish wedding on July 29, 2000, on a Malibu estate overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Some 200 people attended the event, which included four bands, a gospel choir, fireworks and tens of thousands of flowers. Part of Pacific Coast Highway was shut down to accommodate the influx of guests, which included actress Cameron Diaz and most of Aniston’s “Friends” co-stars. Media reports at the time pegged the event’s cost at $1 million. It was the first marriage for both.
Until rumors began swirling that they were about to split, there were near-constant tabloid rumors that Aniston was pregnant. The actress had told People in 2002 that she and Pitt eventually wanted to start a family. “Absolutely it will happen but probably not for a while,” she said at the time.
Since their wedding they have been touted not only as one of Hollywood’s most glamorous couples but also one of the film industry’s most powerful. They are co-owners of the Plan B production company with producer Brad Grey, who earlier this week was hired to replace Sherry Lansing as head of the Paramount studio. Aniston is perhaps the most recognizable star of “Friends,” the ensemble show that concluded a 10-year run last year as one of television’s highest-rated comedies. She also has starred in such films as “Along Came Polly,” “Bruce Almighty” and “The Good Girl.” Her father is veteran soap opera actor John Aniston.
Pitt, long one of Hollywood’ most bankable film stars, is currently seen in “Ocean’s Twelve.” Other film credits include “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Fight Club,” “Meet Joe Black,” “Seven Years in Tibet,” “Sleepers,” “12 Monkeys,” “Legends of the Fall,” “A River Runs Through It” and “Thelma & Louise.”
The non-subscriber version of the People story has no real information:
Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt Separate (People, Friday Jan 07, 2005 7:00pm EST)
Hollywood power couple Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt have decided to separate, PEOPLE magazine reports exclusively.
This is followed by a truncated portion of the Pitt statement.
A shame. One imagines that constantly being away on location filming movies would put a strain on a marriage. Indeed, it’s hard to think of a successful Hollywood couple in which both spouses have maintained an active career.
Other coverage:
Pitt And Aniston File For Separation (NBC)
“Access Hollywood” has confirmed that Hollywood power couple Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt have officially separated after four and half years of marriage, according to People magazine.
On Dec. 8, Brad Pitt was solo on the red carpet for his “Ocean’s 12” premiere in Holywood, while Jennifer Aniston was in London, shooting her new movie, “Derailed.”
Pitt did travel to Europe to promote “Ocean’s 12,” but the two were never seen together. Were these early warning signs of an inevitable spit? Were Brad’s comments in June’s Vanity Fair a self-fulfilling prophesy? “I’m not sure it really is in our nature to be with someone for the rest of our lives,” Pitt said.Introduced by their managers, the two began dating in 1998. Two years later, on July 29, 2000, they were married in a top-secret ceremony. After the wedding, Pitt shot 8 films, and Aniston continued her full-time gig on “Friends” and filmed movies on the side. Spending time together became increasingly difficult.
When Aniston wrapped up “Friends” last May, the pressure mounted: When would Hollywood’s “most beautiful couple” have children?
ouple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston Have Split, Publicist Confirms (ABC News)
Simply put, Hollywood’s hottest couple is kaput.
Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston announced Friday that they were calling it quits after nearly five years of marriage. “We have decided to formally separate,” they said in a joint statement. “This decision is the result of much thoughtful consideration. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another,” they continued in the statement, which was originally issued to People magazine Friday and later confirmed by their publicist. “We ask in advance for your kindness and sensitivity in the coming months.”
The couple’s every move in recent months has been breathlessly tracked in painstaking detail in the glossies. Us Weekly, Star and In Touch devoted gallons of ink to chronicling the actors’ ups and downs. First Pitt was linked to his Mr. and Mrs. Smith costar Angelina Jolie. Then Aniston was spotted sans wedding ring. He told Diane Sawyer how much he wanted kids, supposedly while she was partying it up in London (and this after he jet-setted to shoot Troy, Ocean’s Twelve and Mr. and Mrs. Smith). Then they were back together, celebrating New Year’s in the Caribbean with Courteney Cox and hubby David Arquette. British oddsmakers even began taking bets on whether the couple would last through the end of the year (by Monday, the line was two-to-one in favor of divorce). People was the first out with the breakup news late Friday–undoubtedly ruining the weekend plans of rival reporters.
“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,” they said in their Friday statement. There was no further comment from either actor’s reps.
Pitt, 41, and Aniston, 35, first hooked up in the spring of 1998 and instantly became one of Tinseltown’s premiere power couples. They married two years later in a lavish, star-studded ceremony in Malibu attended by 200 of their closest pals, including Cox, Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, Cameron Diaz, Edward Norton and Salma Hayek.
It was the first marriage for both. Pitt had once been engaged to Gwyneth Paltrow, and before that he had shacked up with Juliette Lewis. Aniston previously played house with actor Tate Donovan and had also spent time flocking with head Counting Crow Adam Duritz.
Endlessly dogged by paparazzi and the tabs, the couple was never far from a headline. Aniston’s waistline and eating habits were analyzed ad nauseum for clues to whether she was pregnant during the final seasons of Friends. She finally confided to People in 2002 that they were planning on starting a family when the time was right. “Absolutely it will happen but probably not for a while,” she said. “Probably Friends will end, close that chapter, and see where we go.”
But Aniston’s post-Friends career took off and she has at least a half-dozen films in the pipeline, beginning with Rumor Has It. In the comedy, due out Apr. 15, she plays a woman who discovers her family was the inspiration for The Graduate. Her other projects include Derailed, a thriller about two people whose lives take a turn after a chance encounter on a train, due out later this year; Diary, a film about a married woman who gets blackmailed after she loses her secrets-filled diary; Friends with Money, about three married women and their single friend; the heist tale Gambit with Ben Kingsley; and an untitled dark comedy about a politician’s wife unwittingly reunited with a child she put up for adoption years earlier.
Pitt, on the other hand, has some downtime after a busy year in 2004. (Mr. and Mrs. Smith, one of three high-profile films he shot last year, comes out in June.)
While the baby-making was unsuccessful, the couple did make good on another joint project. They formed the production company Plan B with their manager, Brad Grey. With Aniston and Pitt splitting and Grey giving up his stake to take over Paramount Pictures, it’s not known what will become of Plan B. The company’s next major release is the Johnny Depp-starring Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, due out this summer.
Brad, Jennifer break-up? (Sify, 4 January)
Jennifer Aniston’s empty ring finger seems to have fuelled rumours of her break-up with hubby Brad Pitt, so much so that they have become the bookies favourite. According to The Sun, the odds on Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt divorcing in 2005 have been cut down by Ladbrokes from 5/1 to 2/1. “We have had scores of bets. One American in London tried to place #1,000. We only let him bet #100,” Spokesman Warren Lush was quoted as saying.
Additionally, in Hollywood these days there’s practically no support system for marriage. This hasn’t always been true. Years ago if they went out to find it major stars could find a support system of other major stars (like James Stewart and Bob Hope) who were not only committed to their marriages but to the idea of marriage. It’s a lot harder nowadays.
It may sound silly, but I always thought they were such a cute couple and they seemed ideal for each other. I really didn’t expect this. Figured they’d buck the normal messiness.
I’ve never understood these Hollywood marriages. Essentially they are more a business arrangement than a real marriage. Why do these stars feel the need to romance and marry another big name? Are they so totally taken in by their celebrity that their value system only allows them to seek another celebrity, as the mere fact of celebrity is proof of a person’s worth? I think the more stable marriages are between a star and someone who isn’t an “equal” in the business, someone who’s more content to stay in the background and help the main bread winner, in the way a traditional marriage used to work. I know these views aren’t necessarily PC, but just my $0.02.
I always wonder why anyone cares about Hollywood marriages at all! What possible difference does their relationship make to anyone’s life–except, of course, those who are acquainted with the couple? Why is the Associated Press even covering it?
What two consenting adults choose to do with regard to their relationship is their business. Who cares that–as Dave Schuler seems to lament–“in Hollywood these days there’s practically no support system for marriage”?
For crying out loud! These people are mature, rich adults. If they want to split up, great. Who cares?
The big outrage here is that these people are pretentious enough to think that their personal travails are of such importance that they feel compelled to send their publicist out with a statement!
In fairness, if they had not made a statement it would have fueled even more speculation–some of it potentially hurtful.
I can see why people would want to marry those with whom they have something in common. Being in the public eye might be one of those things that must be experienced in order to be truly understood.
now that Brad is single I must ask the question,
“what’s up with me and you, Brad???”
I knew it wouldn’t take too long for a hollywood breakup to wash a shore(very sorry about that pun) the tswanmai horror. Now I have to bit my teeth in rage when CNN, court tv, Entertainment tonight…will telecast and talk on and on and on about the Michael Jackson fiasco in a few weeks.
God save me.
Peace, love and harmony everyone.
We are a couple that are in our early 50’s, having seen our 3 children grown, and are expecting our 8th grandchild. The years go by so fast,we have seen each other though hard times, sickness,& have had our ups’s and down’s. We are so blessed to have a beautiful home,fancy cars, lovely jewlery, nice vacations. But in our lives, we have put God first, each other next, then family, church, friends etc. When times were hard,or some things that can drive you crazy about your spouse, you have to try & remember when you first fell in love with each other, not just the physical attraction, but the good things that made your heart go pitter-patter when that “special person walked in the room”,and through the years as the children grow up, leave the home, start their own family’s you look back and say “wow” where did those years go? How did I get to be this age? And you realize it’s just the 2 of you again! And you have a peace that whew some how, you made it though. You can have wealth, alot of things, but that’s just it, it just “stuff”, and you can loose it all in a minuet, but when you have each other still, that is when you realize the most having someone to grow old with, to still love, to still feel that pitter-patter when he-she walks in the room, and it’s like when you were young again. Life is so short, and so many people just give up on each other, something I’ve learned is,you can’t always change someone else, but when we change what needs to be changed in ourselves first then others see that, our love ones see that, and they think hmm, maybe I need to do that as well. If you put the other person first before anything else, and sometimes you have to stop doing things that might keep you apart for a while, and totality work on listening to what you spouse is saying, trying to tell you, it’s a 50-50 give and take, we must give to each other 100% first, before we can give to outside things, not to be afriad to say” I was wrong” and ask for forgiveness, and have the spouse accept and forgive, and let go of the what ever it was. Sometimes and so sadly so many couples after 5-7-10 years give up, or think maybe someone else might make us happier, now if a spouse is abusive,physically or mentally, to a spouse, or any children, that is not acceptable. Even in God’s eyes, but when it’s the “little” stuff that drives you nuts sometimes, or allowing distance to keep you apart for long periods, that is not what you want to have in your marriage, as we need to be together, to hold and love each other. Love sometimes may only find us once in a life time, sometimes things do happen that cause people to seperate, and maybe devorce, sometimes love may come again, if you are blessed to find that “next love”, but when so many people keep getting married 1-2-3 and more times, they will never be happy in the end, so in your youth if you find that unconditional love hang onto it like it is worth gold, fight for it, even when you don’t feel like the fight is worth it, if you do fight for it, you’ll see after the years go by, and look back, you also be able to say “whew” we made it, we did it, we still have each other, and when we are gone and no longer here on this earth, our children, and grand children, and hopefully our great grand children will have learned the most valulable lesson to pass on to “our future” generations that loving one another is “God’s” greatest commandment He gave to us.
We pray for you two that this thing will pass, and that you will make it though these “hard” times, and years down the road be able to look back and say” ahh we are so glad and blessed that we stuck it out, together!
God Bless;
Ashley & Greg Loomis
from Vermont to where ever you both are.
To Brad & Jennifer Pitt:
We are a couple that are in our early 50’s, having seen our 3 children grown, and are expecting our 8th grandchild. The years go by so fast,we have seen each other though hard times, sickness,& have had our ups’s and down’s. We are so blessed to have a beautiful home,fancy cars, lovely jewlery, nice vacations. But in our lives, we have put God first, each other next, then family, church, friends etc. When times were hard,or some things that can drive you crazy about your spouse, you have to try & remember when you first fell in love with each other, not just the physical attraction, but the good things that made your heart go pitter-patter when that “special person walked in the room”,and through the years as the children grow up, leave the home, start their own family’s you look back and say “wow” where did those years go? How did I get to be this age? And you realize it’s just the 2 of you again! And you have a peace that whew some how, you made it though. You can have wealth, alot of things, but that’s just it, it just “stuff”, and you can loose it all in a minuet, but when you have each other still, that is when you realize the most having someone to grow old with, to still love, to still feel that pitter-patter when he-she walks in the room, and it’s like when you were young again. Life is so short, and so many people just give up on each other, something I’ve learned is,you can’t always change someone else, but when we change what needs to be changed in ourselves first then others see that, our love ones see that, and they think hmm, maybe I need to do that as well. If you put the other person first before anything else, and sometimes you have to stop doing things that might keep you apart for a while, and totality work on listening to what you spouse is saying, trying to tell you, it’s a 50-50 give and take, we must give to each other 100% first, before we can give to outside things, not to be afriad to say” I was wrong” and ask for forgiveness, and have the spouse accept and forgive, and let go of the what ever it was. Sometimes and so sadly so many couples after 5-7-10 years give up, or think maybe someone else might make us happier, now if a spouse is abusive,physically or mentally, to a spouse, or any children, that is not acceptable. Even in God’s eyes, but when it’s the “little” stuff that drives you nuts sometimes, or allowing distance to keep you apart for long periods, that is not what you want to have in your marriage, as we need to be together, to hold and love each other. Love sometimes may only find us once in a life time, sometimes things do happen that cause people to seperate, and maybe devorce, sometimes love may come again, if you are blessed to find that “next love”, but when so many people keep getting married 1-2-3 and more times, they will never be happy in the end, so in your youth if you find that unconditional love hang onto it like it is worth gold, fight for it, even when you don’t feel like the fight is worth it, if you do fight for it, you’ll see after the years go by, and look back, you also be able to say “whew” we made it, we did it, we still have each other, and when we are gone and no longer here on this earth, our children, and grand children, and hopefully our great grand children will have learned the most valulable lesson to pass on to “our future” generations that loving one another is “God’s” greatest commandment He gave to us.
We pray for you two that this thing will pass, and that you will make it though these “hard” times, and years down the road be able to look back and say” ahh we are so glad and blessed that we stuck it out, together!
God Bless;
Ashley & Greg Loomis
from Vermont to where ever you both are.