MORE TIME APART FOR JEN & JUSTIN

‘‘ Brad and Jen were drawn closer to each other than ever before by their emotion-filled conversation”

— A FRIEND

Just days after his and Jen’s second wedding anniversary on Aug. 5, Justin was photographed in Hungary, where he’s shooting The Spy Who Dumped Me and where he celebrated his 46th birthday on Aug. 10 with co-star Mila Kunis and her husband, Ashton Kutcher (pictured), instead of his wife. “Jen and Justin have spent more time apart than together [since they got married] because Justin bounces from one long-distance project to the next,” says an insider, noting how Justin worked in New York for The Girl on the Train, promoted Zoolander 2 in Europe, shot his HBO series The Leftovers in Texas and Australia and then shot Mute in Berlin before this. “They reunite here and there,” adds the insider, “but for the most part, they’re living separate lives.” exactly what he did,” a source tells In Touch. “It was the most intimate conversation Brad and Jen have ever had.” They spoke at length, and by the time he asked her for her forgiveness, says the source, “Jen was overcome with emotion. All the hurt feelings and resentment she’d suppressed for years came flooding to the surface, and she broke down in tears.”

But before Jen accepted his heartrending apology, she listened closely as Brad poured his heart out. “At first, he talked freely about the major changes in his life over the past year,” explains the source. It’s certainly been a hell of a year: In September, Angelina, 42, blindsided him with divorce papers after a dramatic incident on a plane involving a drunk Brad, 53, and old- est son Maddox, 16, which led to a lengthy child services investigation. ( Brad was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing.) As he publicly revealed earlier this year, he decided to enter therapy and give up alcohol, which had, he says, “become a problem.” “Brad discussed the strides he’s made in recovery and how he’s come to a wonderful new place of understanding and perception in his life,” adds the source. “He spoke about hitting rock bottom — with the plane incident, the breakup with Angelina and the splitting apart of his family — and how he made

the climb out.”

It was clear he was consumed with regret. “But then Brad launched into a long list of things he was sorry for when it came to Jen,” says the source, explaining that the way their nearly five-year-long marriage ended back in early 2005 after Brad fell for Angelina on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith has long haunted him. “He apologized to Jen for being an absentee husband, for being stoned and bored much of the time. He also made amends for leaving her for Angelina.”

His pain was palpable. “Brad expressed deep sorrow over his altered state back then and acknowledged that they might still even be married if he had been emotionally and physically present and sober at the time,” says the source. Jen, 48, couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “A twoton weight of sadness and regret had been lifted off her shoulders. It was the vindication she had been looking for all these years.”

Brad has a clarity about life he’s never had before. “He’s in a great place mentally and physically. He’s sober and in touch with his emotions and his true self like never before,” says a friend. “He keeps telling friends that dropping pot and alcohol for the first time since his college days has him seeing everything more clearly.” Through therapy and recovery, adds the friend, “Brad’s really learned to express his feelings.”

Brad and Jen’s icy estrangement began to thaw last summer. He reconnected with Jen not long after the death of her mom, Nancy Dow, in May 2016, in a letter expressing his condolences, explains the friend. Brad knew Nancy and Jen had long endured a difficult motherdaughter relationship — he’d once worked to mend it back when he and Jen were together — and that Nancy’s death would be hard on his ex. Fast-forward to this June, when, as In Touch previously reported, Brad initiated a conversation with Jen in hopes of making amends for his own behavior. “It opened the door to a whole new era of good feeling between the exes,” says the friend. But, explains the source, “It wasn’t enough for Brad,” who felt there was more to resolve.

There were indications Jen would be receptive. She has, after all, privately been there for him since his marriage to Angelina imploded. “Brad and Jen kept up a regular phone and text relationship,” explains the friend. “She’s been comforting and supportive through his breakup with Angelina and initial estrangement from his kids [Maddox, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 11, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 9].”

Jen has made peace with Brad, but she’s still angry with Angelina. And not just because of her role in Jen and Brad’s split more than 12 years ago. “Jen also harbors great anger toward Angelina for making Brad out to be an emotionally abusive and sometimes violent father and husband in the aftermath of their split,” explains the friend. Jen’s told Brad she’s completely on his side when it comes to getting joint custody of the kids.

Neither Brad nor Jen saw this day coming. “But after Jen’s acceptance of Brad’s deeply moving apology,” says the friend, “she and Brad have reached a level of closeness and understanding that they never thought possible.” ◼