Jennifer Aniston admits she and Gwyneth Paltrow gossip about Brad Pitt
By India McTaggart
Jennifer Aniston has revealed that she and Gwyneth Paltrow gossip about their shared ex, Brad Pitt.
The Friends actress, 56, said that she and the Goop founder, 52, cannot resist trading tales about her husband of five years, who was also engaged to Paltrow in the ’90s.
Brad Pitt with Gwyneth Paltrow in the mid-1990s (left) and with Jennifer Aniston in the early 2000s.Credit:
Asked by Vanity Fair about swapping stories about Pitt, 61, with his ex-fiancee, Aniston said: “Of course, how could we not? We’re girls.”
The Golden Globe-winning actress, who was left heartbroken when Pitt fell for Angelina Jolie while they filmed Mr & Mrs Smith, also shared that their separation was a “vulnerable time” for her.
Reflecting on her previous interview with the US magazine in 2005, when the couple split, she said: “I haven’t looked at that article in forever. I just remember the experience of doing it – which was kind of jarring.
“It was also just a vulnerable time. But yeah, that was one for the memoirs.”
Brad Pitt at the world premiere of F1 The Movie in June, with current partner Ines de Ramon.Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
She also spoke about the media frenzy she faced at the time of their high-profile relationship falling apart.
Aniston said: “It was such juicy reading for people. 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.”
She added: “I didn’t have a strong-enough constitution to not get affected by it. We’re human beings, even though some people don’t want to believe we are.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston at a cancer fundraiser in Hollywood in 2014.Credit: Getty Images
“They think, ‘you signed up for it, so you take it’. But we really didn’t sign up for that.”
Elsewhere, the actress said the Friends cast felt as if they had been mourning co-star Matthew Perry “for a long time” before his death.
She starred alongside Perry, who played the sarcastic and witty Chandler Bing, in the popular US sitcom for 10 years from 1994 to 2004.
Speaking about his long-term battle with addiction, which he famously struggled with throughout filming the show, she said: “We did everything we could when we could.
“But it almost felt like we’d been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight.”
Perry died in 2023, aged 54, from the acute effects of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home.
He had written about his battles with addiction the year before in his bestselling memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
“I have mostly been sober since 2001, save for about 60 or 70 little mishaps,” he wrote.
Speaking about his death, Aniston told Vanity Fair: “As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there’s a part of me that thinks this is better. I’m glad that he’s out of pain.”
She had previously spoken about her fear of losing him to his addiction in a broadcast interview with Diane Sawyer.
The actress became emotional when discussing it, adding: “We weren’t equipped to deal with it … the idea of even losing him … he’s having a road, but he’s all right.”
In 2018 Perry suffered a burst colon after overdosing on opioids and underwent multiple surgeries.
Aniston has previously paid a touching tribute to the late actor, in which she said that his life “literally depended on” making people laugh.
She played Rachel Green in Friends, which also starred Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc.
Discussing its huge impact on her career, she said: “What helped raise me is something I got to put into the world and help other people.
“If [Friends] was the only thing on my résumé I would be very happy and blessed.”
The actress also spoke about her star turn as famous news presenter Alex Levy on The Morning Show, which is returning to Apple TV in September for a fourth season.
Her love interest in the show is a rocket-building billionaire played by Jon Hamm. When asked if the character is loosely based on Elon Musk she disagreed, saying: “I don’t find him desirable in any way or shape.”
Read the full story in Vanity Fair’s September issue.
The Telegraph, London
Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.