Brad Pitt’s
college love
Just as his high-profile, epic divorce battle with Angelina Jolie reaches a climax, another former love has crawled out of the woodwork for Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt.
The 54-year-old Fight Club star’s long lost love from his days at the University of Missouri can be revealed for the first time – and she’s living near the actor in LA!
The father-of-six, who studied journalism before dropping out and moving to Hollywood, was “madly in love” with Josie Rosen.
But according to Brad’s Sigma Chi fraternity brothers, he later dumped Josie so he could pursue fame and his passion for acting.
Now, Woman’s Day can exclusively reveal that Josie, who dated the star for most of his time at college, carved her own path in Hollywood – becoming a big-time movie producer!
“Brad was very popular with the ladies. They’d line up to speak to him – it was as if he was already famous – but he only ever had eyes for Josie. They were madly in love,” says a friend of the couple.
“She wasn’t the jealous type and didn’t seem bothered everybody wanted her man. She was confident, very levelheaded and they had an incredibly strong bond.”
Despite their connection, the actor had a change of heart about working in the media and decided to try his luck in Los Angeles.
Brad sat down with Josie to talk about his reasons for ending their relationship.
“He shocked everyone when he dropped out just a few months before graduation. Josie was the first person he told – even his family didn’t know,” explains the friend. “She completely understood, and knew it was something that was in his heart and he had to go for it.”
Another of Brad and Josie’s old friends, Sigma Chi brother Mark Fauser, confirmed the relationship but refused to elaborate, saying, “He dated a good friend of mine, Josie Rosen. She is [now] a very successful producer in Hollywood.”
Josie, 55, moved into an apartment in LA in the late ’80s and worked her way up the career ladder at 20th Century Fox, before being named executive vice president at Gulfstream Pictures in 2013.
“Josie has made a real name for herself in Hollywood and now has a family of her own, but she has fond memories of Brad,” our insider spills.
“She lives just 30 minutes from his house in Los Feliz and they run in the same circles – it’s likely they could bump into each other at an industry event.
“His friends wonder what would’ve happened if he hadn’t chosen to leave without her all of those years ago... his story could have been very different.”
Her eyes well up with tears and burn with the intensity of a mum’s love as Angela Bishop watches 11-year-old Amelia talk about how she made her beautiful dad his favourite chocolate cake for his 55th birthday.
“Daddy got a taste of his early birthday cake,” Amelia explains. “I had to blow out the candles – he had oxygen tubes and it could have blown up the hospital, and we didn’t need that.”
Her big, strapping “superhero” dad Peter Baikie lay in a hospital bed, knowing the end was near, still joking with the daughter he so adored, and sharing tender moments with Angela, who says she always felt safe in his arms.
“He had a lick of the icing, the rest of us had a piece of cake,” Amelia says with a hint of a smile, remembering her motorcycleriding “daredevil” dad, who loved chocolate as much as she does.
Pete was just 54, and only days away from his birthday, which by that stage Angela and Amelia knew would be the last they would spend together as a family. “We were planning his birthday party for the following week and instead we had his funeral,” Ange says, chocking up with emotion.
GRIEF & TEARS
There have been lots of tears in the 12 months since this man who was the very essence of a real-life hero to his family and friends finally lost his terrible battle to beat a very rare form of cancer; moments when Ange has been left dumbstruck with grief.
And she’s been dreading this first anniversary of the worst day of her life, as she and Amelia prepare for a charity motorbike ride to celebrate Pete’s life and continue his fight to raise money for research into rare cancers.
Fate was terribly unkind to Pete in terms of his diagnosis. A CAT scan after an incorrect diagnosis of pneumonia showed he had a primary pulmonary synovial sarcoma growing into the fluid next to the right lung. There are just three cases in a million in the world.
“The doctors didn’t know what it was to start with,” Studio 10 star Ange says, explaining from the outset she and Pete involved Amelia in every stage, honestly answering any of her questions during what turned out to be a heartbreaking 22-month journey.
Pete had no time for self-pity, insisting doctors try experimental treatments on him even when he suspected they couldn’t save him, so someone else could benefit from the trial after he was gone. He never stopped fighting.
“Having the fundraising ride to concentrate on has been sensational because it’s given us a focus where we’re acknowledging the anniversary and doing something positive at the same time, which he would have loved,” Ange says.
Pete had chemotherapy to reduce the size of the tumour shortly after he was diagnosed in February 2016, then surgery to try and remove all of it, and radiotherapy – but it returned despite his huge will to live.
“The incredibly rare cancer got him twice in a row,” explains Amelia in a matter-of-fact tone that belies her tender years. “I’m never going to forgive
‘I’m never going to forgive that stupid cancer. It killed my daddy’