Jennifer Aniston spoke candidly about the "love triangle" she found herself in, involving her then-husband Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Twenty years have passed since reports first emerged about a romance between Pitt and his "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" costar Jolie. At the time, Pitt was married to Aniston, but they later split up, and he went on to marry Jolie.
"It was such juicy reading for people," Aniston told Vanity Fair in an interview published Aug. 11. "If they didn't have their soap operas, they had their tabloids."
Aniston added that the whole ordeal was something she took "personally."
"It's a shame that it had to happen, but it happened," she said. "And boy did I take it personally.”
Reflecting on her mindset at the time, Aniston said she told herself to "just pick yourself up by the bootstraps and keep on walking, girl."
The same year Aniston, 56, and Pitt, 61, parted ways, Pitt began a relationship with Jolie, 50. The couple featured in a W magazine spread called "Domestic Bliss," which showed them as a married family with children. Pitt and Jolie tied the knot in 2014, but their marriage ended when she filed for divorce two years later, resulting in a lengthy legal battle that spanned 10 years.
The whole ordeal, Aniston later told Vanity Fair, lacked empathy.
"Is it odd timing? Yeah. But it's not my life. He makes his choices. He can do — whatever. We're divorced, and you can see why," she said.
"I can also imagine Brad having absolutely no clue why people would be appalled by it," she continued. "Brad is not mean-spirited; he would never intentionally try to rub something in my face. In hindsight, I can see him going, Oh — I can see that that was inconsiderate."
Aniston added, "There's a sensitivity chip that's missing."
In her most recent interview with Vanity Fair, Aniston said she could still recall her emotions at the time.
"I just remember the experience of doing it — which was kind of jarring," she said. "It was also such a vulnerable time. But yeah, that was one for the memoirs."
Aniston went on to marry Justin Theroux in 2015. They split in 2018. She has most recently been linked to hypnotist Jim Curtis, E! News reported.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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