Jennifer Aniston makes rare comment on 2005 divorce with Brad Pitt, 'love triangle' with Angelina Jolie
Jennifer Aniston gave a rare comment about her 2005 divorce from Brad Pitt—and the ensuing "love triangle" with Angelina Jolie that became the subject of a media frenzy.
In the cover story of Vanity Fair for its September issue, published Aug. 11, Aniston looked back on her interview with the magazine two decades ago, when she talked about her divorce and Jolie. She described it as "such a vulnerable time."
“Journalism back then felt more like a form of a sport,” Aniston said. “There’s obviously some PTSD we all have, which is why these [interviews] scare me... How are they going to misinterpret my words or take something out of context? And one line nowadays."
VF noted that Aniston's candid statements about the divorce, plus Pitt's relationship with Jolie shortly afterward, "made tabloid tidal waves and arguably launched the celebrity-gossip corner of the internet."
“It was such juicy reading for people," Aniston said. "If they didn’t have their soap operas, they had their tabloids... It’s a shame that it had to happen, but it happened. And boy did I take it personally."
“They were sort of building us up and then tearing you down,” she said, comparing herself to a piñata," she added.
Aniston pointed out that she "didn’t have a strong enough constitution to not get affected" by the media coverage on her personal life.
"We’re human beings, even though some people don’t want to believe we are,” she said. “They think, 'You signed up for it, so you take it.' But we really didn’t sign up for that.”
Aniston called the era "the love triangle," and as a note to herself in dealing with it, said, “Just pick yourself up by the bootstraps and keep on walking, girl.”
Aniston and Pitt met in 1998 through a blind date arranged by their agents. They got engaged the following year and married in 2000.
Pitt met Jolie in 2004 on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which was released in United States theaters in June 2005.
In January 2005, Aniston and Pitt announced their breakup in a joint statement, saying, "“This decision is the result of much thoughtful consideration. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another.”
But just three months later, Pitt was spotted with Jolie and her son Maddox vacationing in Kenya, fueling public speculation that he had been cheating on Aniston.
In her VF interview in 2005, Aniston said of her divorce and the vacation, "The world was shocked, and I was shocked."
"I would be a robot if I said I didn't feel moments of anger, of hurt, of embarrassment," she said. "He makes his choices. He can do—whatever. We're divorced, and you can see why."
After her time with Pitt, Aniston dated filmmaker Justin Theroux in 2011, got married in 2015, and divorced in 2018.
Aniston reportedly has a new romance with hypnotherapist Jim Curtis.
Aniston and Pitt remained friends even after the scandal. He attended her 50th birthday celebration in 2019. They also hugged backstage at the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Pitt and Jolie, meanwhile, tied the knot in 2014. They share six children.
In 2016, Jolie accused Pitt of abusing her on a private plane. She also claimed that Pitt “physically and verbally” assaulted her and their kids, and said he was already abusive before the plane incident.
Jolie filed for divorce afterward, and they were ruled legally single in 2019.
But since then, Jolie and Pitt have been embroiled in legal battles, the center of which was the winery Miraval they had bought when they were still together.
