DIVORCING AT THE SAME TIME
Jen & Brad
It was the last thing she expected. After Jennifer Aniston’s mother, Nancy Dow, died on May 25, Jen received condolences from one of the few people in the world who understood her complicated relationship with her mom: her ex-husband, Brad Pitt. Jen and her mother had been estranged since 1999, and Brad had urged them, unsuccessfully, to put aside their differences when he and Jen married a year later. So, “When Brad heard that Nancy had passed away, he didn’t hesitate to reach out and comfort Jen in her time of need,” an insider exclusively tells In Touch. “He sent a note of sympathy expressing how sorry he was about Nancy’s passing, adding that he was thinking of Jen and her late mother.” Jen was so touched by Brad’s letter, “She even cried a little over it,” says the insider. “And she sent him a note back thanking him and wishing him well.” They’re going to have a lot more to talk about in the coming months. In Touch has exclusively learned that in a startling twist of fate, Brad’s nearly
Jennifer Aniston’s marriage to Justin Theroux implodes just as ex-husband Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are ending things
two-year marriage to Angelina Jolie is crumbling at the same time as Jen’s 10-month marriage to Justin Theroux is falling apart. Both relationships are headed toward divorce, insiders say. “Brad and Angelina are completely in divorce mode and at a point where they barely speak to each other unless it’s about the kids,” reveals a friend of the couple. And while Justin has been publicly supportive of Jen in the wake of her mom’s death — he accompanied her to Nancy’s memorial service on May 27 — “The truth is, they’re both fronting for a doomed marriage,” says a pal. “It’s over.”
Jen and Justin view marriage differently, and that poisoned the relationship. “Justin was just never meant to be a married man,” says the pal, noting that their engagement dragged on for three years before they finally wed in their backyard last August. (Justin dated his ex, Heidi Bivens, for a whopping 14 years without tying the knot.) Since marrying, “They’ve spent far more time apart than they have together, and Justin prefers it that way. He’s fine with Skyping and calling from sets when he’s working, but Jennifer isn’t.”
Their problems grew worse in May. That’s when Justin, 44, left to shoot the final season of his HBO show The Leftovers and broke the news to Jen, 47, that only a small portion would be shot in Austin, Texas, with production then moving 9,000 miles away to Australia for the summer. “When he told her he would most likely miss their first anniversary because of it, Jen lost it,” says the pal.
“She railed at Justin, telling him he didn’t take their marriage seriously and that he was neglecting their relationship for his career.” Justin didn’t see a reason to apologize.
Jen cringes at the thought of ending their union, but she’s heartbroken and desperately unhappy. “It’s especially hard to reach Justin when he’s working,” notes the pal. And when he’s not on set, “He’d rather hang out with his buddies in NYC or go on road trips with pals during his downtime than be with Jen.” She’d hoped this would be the year they finally had a child, either by adoption or surrogate. Instead, “Justin’s nonchalance toward her and their relationship has torpedoed the marriage,” the pal says. Between her deteriorating relationship with Justin and the death of her mother, “Jen’s in the worst emotional tailspin of her life. And now she has to contemplate the humiliation of a second big divorce in the public eye.”
She won’t be the only one. After 11 years and six kids together, Brad and Angelina — who fell in love while he was still married to Jen — are struggling to stay connected. “When they do talk,” says their friend, “it usually erupts into an argument over her controlling ways, his worries about her weight loss and health, or her jealousy over his two stunning co-stars [in the upcoming World
War II epic Allied, Marion Cotillard and Lizzy Caplan].” Over the years, the friend notes, Angelina’s insecurities about Brad, 52, and other beautiful women have grown, and it’s a constant source of tension between them now. Although Brad joined the family for daughter Shiloh’s 10th birthday in LA in late May, “He and Angelina used to be glued at the hip, but they haven’t spent alone time together since midApril, when they tried to revive their romance with an overnight date at a London hotel.”
Lately, they’ve been living almost entirely separate lives. One week after Angelina, 41, was glaringly absent on Brad’s big night at the Golden Globes in January, he skipped her Kung Fu Panda 3 premiere in Hollywood. More recently, in late May, Brad was on Spain’s Gran Canaria island shooting romantic scenes with Marion while Angelina
‘‘ The recent communication between Brad and Jen opened the door to a new period of openness between the exes.”
— A PAL
was in LA with the kids. And when they were both living in their rented London home this winter, “Brad would go to the set of Allied early just to avoid fighting with her,” says their friend. “He took to staying late after production wrapped, too, because he simply didn’t want to face another night of clashing with his wife.”
But Brad and Angie are determined not to disrupt their children’s lives.“Their greatest concern,” says their friend, “will be custody and quality time with the kids [Maddox, 14, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh and twins Knox and Vivienne, 7]. They’re intent on keeping a happy family, even if they will be living apart.” They own so many properties across the world, they plan to simply take turns using them. “They’ll just alternate residences when they take different configurations of the kids for different periods of time,” explains their friend.
Their summer living situation will set the pattern for the future. “Right now the plan is for Angelina to spend the bulk of the time in LA with Shiloh, Zahara and Pax, who will be attending day camp, and for Brad to be in London, most likely with Maddox and the twins, as he begins production on World War Z 2,” explains their friend. “The whole family will come together from time to time, too. They are determined to play the happiest family in the world where it concerns the kids.” They will do whatever it takes to create a sense of normalcy.
Neither Brad nor Jen could ever have imagined they’d find themselves in such similar circumstances at the exact same time. “Their divorce was a bitter one, and the first years after their 2005 split were especially nasty,” says the pal. Brad flaunted his romance with Angelina all over the world, and Jen went
on the attack, famously telling Vanity Fair that Brad was missing “a sensitivity chip.” But, says the pal, over the years, “That bitterness has faded.”
Brad’s thoughtful note to Jen after her mom’s death has now drawn them back into each other’s orbits. The kindness of his note thawed their frosty post-divorce relationship and ended their estrangement. And while people close to them are genuinely upset that both of their second marriages are falling apart, they’ve also started to wonder if someday, down the road, there could be a chance for a reunion. “There are a lot of hopeless romantics who would love nothing more than to see Brad and Jen back together,” notes the pal. “It would really be the perfect Hollywood ending.” For now, however, their only bond is that they are both dealing with the end of their marriages. ◼