It seems like a weird time to put a multi-million dollar property on the market, but that’s just what the Jolie-Pitts are doing. Brad Pitt admitted to Newsweek, and The Scoop’s Courtney Hazlett confirmed, that the spacious Malibu compound that Brad bought immediately after his separation from Jennifer Aniston in 2005 will be sold. Perhaps the market for those large properties isn’t as bad as the market for regular homes.

After Brad bought the home, he spent years renovating it to his liking, adding rooms and more family-friendly details. I’ve seen pictures of the Malibu compound at various times, and it seems like a weird place to call a family home. It’s precariously situated on the Malibu cliffs, not right on the beach. If I was a parent, I would have reoccurring nightmares about one of kids wandering off the cliff.

At Newsweek’s Oscar roundtable Brad Pitt mentioned that he and Angelina Jolie are putting their Malibu house up for sale. (Robert Downey Jr., citing his “pretty good year,” seemed interested in buying it.)

The bigger story: The Jolie-Pitts might not just be decamping from Hollywood, but they might go abroad to get away from the publicity machine.

“The publicity machine is out of control. It’s everything we didn’t sign up for,” Pitt told Newsweek. “There’s this whole other entity that you get sucked into. You have to go and sell your wares. It’s something I never made my peace with. Somehow you’re not supporting your film if you don’t get on a show and talk about your personal life. It has nothing to do with why I do this.”

A source close to the family says that the French estate where they lived after the twins were born is a front-runner as a place to put down more permanent roots.

“They love France, and the laws targeted at paparazzi make it difficult to photograph the kids,” says the source.

In the meantime, the family will soon be heading to the North Shore of Long Island where they’ve rented a waterfront estate to live in while Jolie films “Edwin A. Salt.” With any luck, the two helipads on the property will make their comings and goings harder for the paparazzi to follow.

From MSNBC’s The Scoop

The French estate that they rent does seem very secure. Over the summer, there was that highly charged incident between paparazzi and security guards, right after Angelina gave birth. Other than that, nada. The Paparazzi get so bored covering the chateau, they resorted to taking pictures of the wild boar.

The Jolie-Pitts are, by all accounts, very close to the Long Island move. Allegedly, they are to rent the famous 11-bedroom Sassafras property. We’ll have to see if the paparazzi will be able to get to them there.

Photos are of Brad and Angelina at the SAGs last night along with 2005 aerial pictures of Pitt’s Malibu home. Credit: Fame

Angelina’s interview with Rancic

Brad’s interview with Rancic

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had tongues wagging as usual at the Golden Globes two weeks ago when they actively ignored E! correspondent Ryan Seacrest’s attempts to interview them. Seacrest had an awkward interview with the couple at the 2007 Globes in which he asked kind of pointless personal questions. On his radio show the next day, he was critical of Brad and Angelina’s responses and called Angelina “cold.” Angelina did seem a little out of it, but she was nice enough. Seacrest should have realized at least by that next day that her mother was very sick at the time. Angelina’s mom passed away from cancer just two weeks later.

At the SAG Awards on Sunday, E! avoided another Seacrest debacle by using celeb-friendly correspondents Giuliana Rancic and Debbie Matenopoulos instead. They were positive and upbeat with the attendees, peppering them with compliments and asking appropriate, informed questions about their hair, makeup, families and work. They basically did their job, which is more than you can say for Seacrest’s red carpet behavior at multiple awards ceremonies.

Brad and Angelina responded well in separate interviews with Rancic. They both deferred giving in depth answers to a specific personal question, though, which is particularly telling considering that they were being interviewed separately. It’s possible Brad overheard Angelina’s response first, it’s hard to tell because he’s off camera. He’s usually more reticent with the press anyway:

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt praised each other on the red carpet at Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles.

Asked if she likes having Pitt as her date at award shows, Jolie told E!’s Giuliana Rancic, “We’ve been doing it together for four years – it’s aways nice. I don’t think I’d want to be doing it alone. It’s nice to be doing it with your best friend … and have a laugh in the middle of the show.”

She declined to answer a question about how Pitt has changed her. “It seems like a really odd moment for all of that. I’m sorry,” she said. Later, she added that Pitt “is a wonderful man … the person I admire the most in the world. I think he is extraordinary.”

Jolie wore a Max Azria dress, Tiffany earrings and ring and Christian Louboutin shoes.

“I just like to be comfortable,” she said of getting ready. “I see what comfortable options are out there.”

Do the kids help her prep?

“They play, they get their nails done, they run around,” she said. “Most of the time, they’re a bit bored…. They don’t find it that interesting.”

Pitt did a separate interview. When told by Rancic that Jolie’s beauty never gets old, he said, “No, it never gets old – I am here to testify.”

The actor also called Jolie “amazing … a fantastic mother.”

Like Jolie, he declined to answer a question about how the actress has changed him.

“I don’t want to get into it,” he said. “We’re happy to be here.”

[From US Weekly]

Rancic was more formal with Brad and Angelina and probed a little deeper with them than she did with other celebrities. She explained that “You’re kind of like America’s favorite couple, and one of the favorite couples in the world, and I think that’s why people like to know about you guys.”

Maybe people should put away the preconceived notions with Brad and Angelina and treat them like they do the other celebrities and mainly focus on their work and what they’re wearing. They’re obviously uncomfortable talking about personal stuff at that kind of chaotic event. It’s hard not to ask them about it when we think we know so much about them, though.

Hopefully E! learned their lesson with Seacrest and will keep him away from the Oscars too.

Earlier today Kaiser reported the story that Angelina Jolie’s former longterm bodyguard and confidant, Mickey Brett, was said to be writing a tell all about his time working for the actress. Brett is a notorious figure who was suspected of a murder for hire in England in the 90s. There wasn’t enough evidence to link him to the crime, and it’s unknown if he was actually involved or just one of several suspects.

He was videotaped choking a photographer in October, 2006, and was accused of beating up a guy who breached Brad and Angelina’s compound in Namibia earlier that year. There were also reports that their bodyguards roughed up parents and their children and used racial epithets at a school in India where Angelina was filming A Mighty Heart in November, 2006. Brett was let go a year ago by Brad and Angelina, presumably at Brad’s insistence, and it looks like they made the right decision as their image was tainted back then by their aggressive security staff led by Brett.

I’ve had the chance to read In Touch’s story about Brett’s tell all, and they add convincing details to give it weight, but they always do that. In Touch is the magazine that claimed Angelina told Salt producers at a meeting in early November that she was pregnant.

Here are In Touch’s claims about Brett’s supposed tell all:

Background on Brett’s supposed book

Mickey Brett, Angelina’s head of security for seven years, never signed a confidentiality agreement and us now seeking revenge for being fired by Brad last year. “He knows everything about Angelina,” reveals a source close to Mickey. “It’s going to be one of the most explosive books ever written!”

The scandalous tome, co-authored by ghostwriter Robin McGibbon, is sure to make people rethink how they feel about Brad and Angelina.

Angelina seduced then-married Pitt with sexy costumes and bondage gear

Even though Brad has insisted he did not have a “dastardly affair” with Angie when they filmed Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2004, Mickey, 52, will refute that claim with a shocking firsthand account of a tryst three weeks into film. “Mickey walked in on Angelina being intimate with Brad in her trailer,” the source says. The bodyguard also promises to expose how Angie won Brad over by doing whatever he wanted in bed. “She indulged any fantasy he had, including buying sex toys, paddles and whips and dressing up in latex,” says the source.

Angelina and Mickey used to make fun of Brad

Angelina, 33, would also confide her darkest secrets to Mickey. One thing she hated was Brad’s ignorance. “She can’t stand how little he knows about many subjects,” the source says. Once, when Brad dyed his blond locks black to match Angelina’s and got a tattoo to impress her, “She and Mickey thought it was the funniest thing,” the source adds.

Angelina cheated on Brad with “a famous female pop star”

But the most shocking revelation in the book will no doubt be the allegation that Angelina cheated on Brad several times during their relationship. Mickey will reveal that during his employment with the Jolie-Pitts, Angie became too close for comfort with one man – as well as a famous female pop star. Though it is unclear what went on behind closed doors, “Mickey set up at least 20 secret meetings for Angie with this woman at hotels when Brad was working,” the source says. “Angelina would gloss over where she was to Brad, and Mickey would cover it up.”

[From In Touch, print edition, February 2, 2009]

We’ll have to see if it’s true that Brett is planning a book, but it’s doubtful. If someone files a lawsuit or we hear something more about it, this story might have merit. Otherwise it’s just In Touch jumping to conclusions and adding some fabricated details in order to create yet another faux explosive Brangelina cover and move copies. Even if Brett is planning a book it’s possible that the stuff in In Touch is made up. The fact that they claim Angelina had an affair with a “female pop star” and don’t name names makes it sound even more suspect. I have to admit I’m wondering who it could be though.

Here’s bodguard Mickey Brett with Angelina in Vietnam when she was finalizing the adoption of Pax in March 2007. Images thanks to Bauer-Griffin.

Every few months, a reporter will ask Angelina Jolie’s estranged father Jon Voight if he’s met his grandchildren yet and he’ll say that he hasn’t, but that he hopes to someday. It kind of makes you feel sorry for the guy. He’s 70 and he’s not getting any younger.

Angelina and her dad famously fell out in 2002 after he said in an interview that she had “severe emotional problems.” They had a strained relationship growing up, and Angelina’s brother has said that their dad cheated on their mom before they divorced and was a cruel parent.

The National Enquirer reports in a side article that Jolie ran into Voight at an after party for the Golden Globes and completely ignored his attempts to talk to her. I guess we know it’s not likely he’ll be spending time with his grandchildren anytime soon:

Angelina Jolie gave dad Jon Voight the cold shoulder at the Golden Globes after-party at the Beverly Hilton’s Circa 55 Restaurant on Jan. 11. When Jon approached Angie’s table, she ignored him and continued to chat with a girlfriend. Jon waited patiently for nearly 20 minutes, but finally gave up and moved on.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, February 2, 2009]

This story appeared in one of the Enquirer’s side columns which cover what the celebrities are up to and are generally not that interesting. I’m surprised the Enquirer didn’t run it as a whole feature about how their father daughter relationship is still rocky, but maybe they think it’s old news at this point. It really seemed like Angelina was at least on good enough terms with her dad to make small talk, if not plan outings with the grandkids. Some wounds take a long time to heal, though, and given how much it still upsets just to mention her departed mom she may not be ready to deal with the man who caused her mom so much pain.

Here are Brad and Angelina signing autographs in Paris last night. Credit: Fame

In Touch’s cover story this week is very hardcore. They report that Angelina Jolie’s former bodyguard, Mickey Brett, is planning to write a tell-all book about Angie and Brad. Mickey is best known as being Angelina’s long-time bodyguard, and for getting into multiple scuffles in India, as Angelina filmed A Mighty Heart. Mickey was the one to attack the paparazzi in India, and he was part of the incident in which several Indian parents claimed he shouted racist comments at them.

Mickey’s book, as In Touch spins it, is supposed to be some kind of expose of Jolie and her relationship with Brad. According to “sources”, Angie was very close to Mickey, and she confided in him about many, many subjects.

Angelina Jolie’s Oscar nomination celebrations have been marred by reports her former bodyguard is planning a tell-all which will set out to prove the actress moved in on partner Brad Pitt when he was still married to Jennifer Aniston.

Sources claim the actress, who was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award on Thursday (22Jan09), is seeking legal counsel to block Mickey Brett’s expose, which will also expose intimate details of her courtship and sex life with Pitt.

An publishing insider tells In Touch Weekly magazine, “He (Brett) knows everything about Angelina. It’s going to be one of the most explosive books ever written.”

Brett, who headed up the Jolie/Pitt’s security detail when the couple went into hiding in Namibia before the birth of baby daughter Shiloh in 2006, was reportedly fired by Pitt last year (08).

The source tells In Touch Brett never signed a confidentiality agreement and could be in the clear when it comes to revealing all about the Hollywood couple.

The insider also tells the publication, “It (book) will include all the sordid details of how they (Pitt and Jolie) got together while Brad was still married to Jennifer Aniston.”

Pitt attempted to clear up those rumours in a recent interview after Jolie revealed the couple had met and fallen in love on the set of action film Mr. + Mrs. Smith, which was made when the movie hunk was still married. He insisted there was no “dastardly affair”.

From contactmusic.com

Part of me really, truly thinks that this is just the usual tabloid crap. But Mickey was let go last year, and I could see how any former bodyguard might want to cash in on his famous protected celebrity. And I can totally believe that someone like Mickey would know all of the juiciest dirt. Allegedly, Angelina is already talking to lawyers about getting some kind of block on the publication. My guess is that Mickey is probably going to write a book, and that some of it will be about his famous clients, but that the dirt that being pushed in In Touch isn’t anywhere near the real story.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are shown at the Paris premiere of Benjamin Button last night. Credit: WENN

Angelina Jolie is very happy with her Oscar nomination, thank you very much. She released a statement, saying that it was an honor to be nominated for Best Actress for Changeling, and that she was also happy the Academy recognized Kung Fu Panda with a Best Animated Film nomination. OK! has the details.

The well-worn reaction to winning an Oscar is that ‘it’s an honor just to be nominated’.

But Angelina Jolie has upped the humble stakes by reacting to her nomination by saying it was an honor just to make the movie.

“Working with Clint Eastwood was a reward in itself that will last me a lifetime,” she told Extra after learning today that she’s up for Best Actress for her work in the Eastwood-directed drama The Changeling.

“To receive a nomination from the Academy on top of that is a privilege beyond any expectation,” she added coyly.

“It has been an exceptional year for acting, and I am honored to be in the company of these talented actors whose performances all deserve this recognition.”

The superstar also gave a nod to Kung Fu Panda, the comedy for which she voiced a character and which is in the running for Best Animated Picture.

“I am also happy that Kung Fu Panda was noticed by the Academy and proud to be a part of a film my entire family loves so much.”

[From OK! Magazine]

Jolie really does seem pleased, and good for her. Angelina will also begin production on Salt very soon, and it was recently announced that Salt’s production will mainly take place on Long Island. Star magazine has details about the rental property the Jolie-Pitts could be moving to.

Angelina Jolie will soon be in New York to begin filming the Salt — and she’s looking at a sweet rental deal on a $60 million property for herself, Brad Pitt and their six kids while she’s there!

The Brangelina bunch are said to be moving into the fabulous Sassafras estate in the exclusive waterfront town of Lloyd Neck, in the toney “Gold Coast” area of Long Island’s North Shore. The estate boasts a 22,000-square-foot Tudor-style main house, a separate 11-bedroom staff house, a private dock and two helipads.

Maybe Angelina, a licensed pilot, will be flying her own chopper to the film set!

[From Star Magazine]

Sounds beautiful. Eleven bedrooms? Why, that must mean that another baby is on the way! Shall we start a rumor? But seriously, this has a been a really great day for the Jolie-Pitts. Their Oscar campaign paid off, and they deserve some slack!

Here’s Angelina in the Changeling .

I might have to turn in my Brangeloonie Badge, because even I doubted that Brangelina’s Oscar campaign would work. Sure, Brad and Angelina approached the campaign differently this year – they turned on the charm, they showed off the babies and Brad’s parents, they were good film-promoting soldiers for all of their films. They gave many, many interviews, and Brad even made a trip to Oprah, always a good sign.

Brad Pitt’s Benjamin Button ruled over all nominees, with 13 in total, including a nod to the title hunk and to Taraji P. Henson in the Supporting Actress category.

It’s got to be a happy morning in the Brangelina household, as Brad’s babymama Angelina Jolie was also recognized for her work in the Clint Eastwood-directed film The Changeling. This is Angie’s first nomination since her Supporting Actress win for Girl, Interrupted.

From OK! Magazine

Still, I prepared myself for one or both of them to be snubbed. Did the Academy feel that they needed to rectify last year’s snub for Angelina’s role in A Mighty Heart? Is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button really that great a movie? Is Clint Eastwood still the best guy to know in Hollywood? A case could be made for Clint Eastwood’s influence, actually. He’s the stamp of approval for mainstream Hollywood. And it didn’t hurt that Brad and Angelina made multiple private and public appearance with Eastwood and his wife Dina throughout the year. The Academy took notice.

The question arises, however, exactly what are their chances for a victory on February 22? They’ll both probably go home empty handed. Kate Winslet’s pretty much got Best Actress locked up, and either Mickey Rourke or Sean Pean have the best chance at Best Actor. There’s always a possibility that Brad could surge at the end of this now formal Oscar campaign – Benjamin Button is the nomination leader, and Penn and Rourke could split the vote, giving the award to Brad. But for now, I think Brangelina should just be content with their successful Oscar campaign – they earned this victory the hard way!

Given Angelina Jolie’s wild-child roots, it’s interesting that one of the criticisms she is receiving lately is how bland her style is. She seems to rotate between outfits in solid black or white. Since much of what she’s been wearing is designed by Ralph Lauren, Life & Style Weekly speculates an endorsement deal between Angie and Ralph Lauren may be in the works.

On the Today show October 16, Angelina wore a belted white dress from Ralph Lauren’s spring 2009 collection. Since then, she’s been spotted wearing Lauren at least five times, including at the Kung Fu Panda DVD-release party on November 9 and at the premiere of Gran Torino on December 9.

Angie had an endorsement deal with St. John that ended last year amid rumors she was unhappy with the red-carpet choices they offered her.

Life & Style quotes an insider who says that while Angelina “finds Ralph’s new line classy and elegant,” there is no endorsement deal in the works.

“She’s not paying for the clothes she’s been wearing, and Ralph’s thrilled Angie’s wearing the designs,” says an insider close to the star. “But there’s no contract. Lots of top designers send Angie clothes. She wears what she wants to.”
[From Life & Style, print edition, January 19, 2009]

A representative for Ralph Lauren wouldn’t comment on Angie’s professional relationship with the label. The rep did tell Life & Style that Angelina “really isn’t wearing much color at the moment. She’s been keeping to mostly black and white….She wore a gray sweater of ours [to the Gran Torino premiere], but that’s about it.”

Angie broke her Ralph Lauren trend by wearing a silver gown by designer Atelier Versace to the Golden Globes, and recently paid homage to the big-hair-and-shoulder-pads era of the 80s in a white suit at the Berlin premiere of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Angelina has said she plans to scale back on her acting commitments, so a new endorsement deal could be a way for her to stay busy, express herself creatively, make some cash and stay in the public eye. It’s doubtful she needs the money, but she may donate it to some of the many charities she’s involved with.

Here are photos of Angelina in Ralph Lauren recently. Credit: WENN, PRPhotos and Fame

Star magazine has another horrible story involving Brangelina’s children. According to the tabloid, twins Vivenne and Knox are very sick with mysterious ailments, and Angelina is very upset. Take this all with a grain of salt, considering last week’s Star cover story was about how Marc Anthony is violent towards Jennifer Lopez. It sounds like Star is simply leading the pack of overzealous tabloids clamoring for more photos of the twins, who haven’t been seen for months. New paparazzi photos of the twins would most likely go for a hefty price tag, but would be a bestseller for any tabloid.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie debuted their twins, Knox and Vivienne, last August on magazine covers all over the world, but since one brief sighting last October, the 6-month-olds have mysteriously vanished from the public eye. Where are they? What’s going on?

In the Feb. 2 issue of Star — on sale today! — we report on the problems that have plagued the twins since birth — and there’s a long list of ailments. Their worried parents have done their best to protect the babies’ fragile health by keeping them tucked away.

“They haven’t been the healthiest babies,” says an insider of little Viv who weighed 5 lbs. at birth, and Knox, who was only 3 oz. heavier.

And because of their delicate states, Angelina has developed into an uptight mother.

“Angie is being neurotic with Knox and Viv,” says a source. “She won’t let anyone near them without sanitizing their hands and taking off their shoes.”

Adds another: “She’s really freaking out.”

From Star Magazine

I totally understand that Star has to make money, but I wish they would leave the kids out of their “reporting”. It’s not as if there are no juicy tabloid stories involving The Brange to come out in the past few weeks. Off the top of my head, I could create tabloid stories along the lines of “Angelina at war with Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway!” or “Does Angelina Need A New Stylist?!?” Should Star magazine self-censor about children, or do these children-in-danger headlines really sell?

Thanks to Popbytes for the Star cover.

Brad Pitt is talking about death again. It’s appropriate, I suppose, considering The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is about mortality, aging, et cetera. But I grow weary of these endless musings of Brad’s, and I’m a well-documented Brangaloonie.

Brad’s in Berlin, finishing up filming on Inglourious Basterds and attending the European premiere of his film. As such, he attended a press conference where he was asked a lot of questions about death and mortality. The only breaking news-type story is that Brad, if given the choice, would like to die by shark rather than fire or “tight space”. That cracked me up – who dies by “tight space” again?

Actor Brad Pitt says he is not afraid of growing old, but is worried about how he will die.

Pitt, who turned 45 last month, was in Berlin for the European premier of ‘The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button’, in which he plays a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards.

“I’m not so afraid of getting old, I’m more afraid of how I’ll go,” he told a news conference on Monday. “Fire and tight spaces don’t appeal. A shark would be interesting.” The tear-jerking film tracks the love story between Benjamin Button and Daisy, played by Cate Blanchett, and the joys and losses they face as one gets younger and the other older.

Asked what would make him cry, Pitt replied: “I don’t cry, I’m as hard as nails.”

From The Hollywood Reporter/Reuters

About this “tight space” thing. When I was a child, I had reoccurring nightmares about that scene in Star Wars, where Luke, Leia, Hans and Chewy are being crushed in that waste disposal place. Is that what Brad’s talking about? Being crushed to death? Because that’s a genuine fear I can relate to, as a person, as a Star Wars fan and as a Brangaloonie. But who really wants to die by shark? I certainly don’t. Any death involving water is bad news, in my book. If given the choice, I think I’d like to die by carbon monoxide poisoning. It sounds like a very peaceful death. But now I’m just being morbid. Like Brad.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are shown at the premiere and after party for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in Berlin last night. Credit: WENN