After Brad and Angelina made a public appearance together last week, the tabloids are starting to do some backtracking from all their claims that the two are splitting up. The more audacious tabloids claimed that Brad was reuniting with his ex wife, Jennifer Aniston, based on the fact that both of them were at the same telethon at the same time. OK! ran a “Yes, they’re together again” cover with the banner “Exclusive” while Star claimed that Aniston told Pitt “I’ll take you back.” The split rumors originated with a story in British rag News of the World that stated that Brad and Angelina had visited a lawyer to sign some sort of agreement that would divide their assets in the event of a breakup.

Now OK! is trying to cover their butts for claiming that Brad was leaving Angelina for Jennifer. Their latest cover reads: “I still love Jen, but I can’t leave the kids” Tabloids rarely bother to correct their stories, so you know this is a big deal for OK! You can tell from the way the teaser article on OK!’s site is worded that they don’t have much new information and are just running with their earlier weak story. They quote “Brangelina” author Ian Halperin, a hack of the highest order, and promise “professional analysis on Brad’s usually unkempt beard,” and “photos of their most memorable happy moments.” The “professional analysis” is getting way out of hand with these two. We were subjected to US’s analysis of Angelina’s hastily signed signature yesterday and now it’s on to the beard that Brad is probably growing for a role.

Despite presenting a united front for awards season, glamorous couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s relationship is dissolving, according to several sources. Friends of Brad say he sometimes regrets leaving Jennifer Aniston and actually still loves her, but he stays with Angie for his children’s sake.

“Brad was very calm and mellow and gave a great, funny speech — he had everyone on the floor with his imitation of Quentin,” a witness tells OK! of their appearance at the Director’s Guild Awards. “He and Angie seemed very happy.”

Or so they would have us believe: Ian Halperin, author of Brangelina: The Untold Story, predicts the couple will announce their split “when no one expects it.”

Exclusively in the new issue of OK!, learn professional analysis on Brad’s usually unkempt beard, photos of their most memorable happy moments and snapshots of Brad bonding with each member of his brood.

[From OK!]

I just want all this Brangelina speculation to end. I do think they’re having problems, but my opinion is based on solely superficial evidence and their circumstances. At least I admit that I’m jumping to conclusions and won’t make blanket statements about how they’re doomed or a split is imminent. Until they make an announcement, we just don’t know. They did make an announcement of sorts with their joint appearance last week, and for now we can assume they’re together. I’ve seen couples that seem happily married split up and people that seem miserable stay together for decades. It’s hard to tell either way.

Jennifer Aniston has donated a whopping 1/2 million to help charities in Haiti after the devastating earthquake. She didn’t put out a press release at all, and from the way this story is worded it sounds like Marc Malkin at E! Online heard about it through the grapevine and is the one who chose to make it public. We’ve already heard that celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, and Brad and Angelina donated a million or more to charity in the wake of the tragedy. Apparently Aniston gave a large amount too, she just did it quietly.

Add Jennifer Aniston to the list of celebs donating major bucks to help Haiti.

I just got word that the actress has given $500,000 to Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health and AmeriCares for their recovery efforts in the disaster-stricken Caribbean nation.

Aniston also participated Friday’s megastar-studded Hope for Haiti Now telethon, which as of today has raised $61 million.

[From E! Online]

So did Jennifer Aniston want this to be made public and did she tell one outlet to make it sound like it got leaked instead of announced? Does it matter? I’m of the mind that it’s positive when celebrities announce their charity efforts because it encourages the rest of us to get involved. I’ve learned a lot about legitimate, worthwhile causes by following celebrity news. (Yes, it’s a completely superficial way to become educated on issues, but it has helped serve as a starting point for me. This is what I do for a living.) Plus, Aniston deserves a lot of credit, like all of the other celebrities and people who donated, for getting involved in the “Hope for Haiti” telethon. You can still donate at HopeforHaitiNow.org.

Boy, with all the Brangelina/Aniston stories hitting the tabs this week, you’d think it was 2005 all over again. Deja vu! We told about one silly story that claimed Jennifer modeled her sexy, thigh-high slit gown after one worn by Angelina Jolie last year. Now, new stories are coming out that say Jennifer’s entire look, from her sexy, beachy hair, ample cleavage, to her form-fitting gown and very toned body, were all part of a revenge plot to commemorate the fifth anniversary of her split from Brad Pitt.

She wasn’t nominated for a Golden Globe, but a stunning Jennifer Aniston definitely took home the award for sexiest appearance at the Jan. 17 ceremony. Wearing a black Valentino gown with a mile-high slit on the side, the screen siren took a page out of her rival Angelina Jolie’s style book. And while Angelina and Brad Pitt decided not to attend the awards, their absence actually inspired Jen. “Jennifer decided to go for black and sexy for the awards only when she discovered that Angelina wasn’t attending,” an insider tells Life & Style. “An earlier choice had been a white asymmetrical Stella McCartney, since she didn’t want to go head-to-head with Angelina and her trademark black.”

Jen, 40, has been proudly showing off some killer curves — while Angelina, 34, has looked worn out and nearly skeletal. Unlike Angelina, Jen has taken a balanced approach to maintaining — and even improving — her figure. Jen has done away with a regimented diet to maintain her fat-free form and is enjoying her food. “Jennifer was happy to emphasize her curves in direct contrast to Angie’s skeletal look,” says the insider.

Just three days before she poured her curves into a Valentino gown, Jen and five friends met at the Sunset Tower Hotel in LA, where they indulged in $30 flutes of Veuve Clicquot champagne, small plates and then a meal. “Jen joked that she didn’t want to look like a blimp on Sunday,” an eyewitness tells Life & Style. But as a devout yoga fan, Jen can certainly afford to take in a few more carbs. “She’s been putting extra yoga hours in but has also upped her carb intake to create an altogether curvier look,” says the insider.

[From Life & Style]

I’m going to admit something. When I know I am going to be at an event where I might run into some of my ex-husband’s colleagues, I want to look good. I can’t say it’s for “revenge,” more like, “wow, she’s really hot, why’d he get rid of her?” But I don’t think that’s what happened here. The short answer is that Jennifer Aniston has a new movie to promote and showing up on that red carpet with Gerard Butler required her to look extra-sexy. End of story. Who wants to stand next to that morsel looking like a frump?

Meanwhile, People Magazine has a new cover story on Aniston entitled “Five Years After Brad.” Honestly, I can’t think of anything more insulting. Like I want people counting the years from when my husband publicly dumped me and took up with another woman. What the hell? I mean, the article seems to be framed as a “she’s better than ever” type of fluff piece that People excels at, but that title? Really? Is there going to be a “Life After Brad” 25th anniversary special issue, too?

Life & Style and People Magazine covers courtesy of CoverAwards.

I just want to address this issue because I think it’s ridiculous that anyone even brought it up. Jennifer Aniston, who wore a gorgeous one-shoulder black dress with a thigh-high slit to the Golden Globes, has been accused of copying Angelina Jolie, who wore a pale peach-colored dress of a completely different cut, fabric and designer that also happened to have a thigh high slit this summer. US Weekly made this jaw-dropping claim in a story titled “Jennifer Aniston Steals Angelina Jolie’s Look,” as if the looks were even similar enough to make this comparison.

Then someone at The Huffington Post put together a side-by-side slideshow meant to show that Aniston’s cosy red carpet poses with Gerard Butler mirrored Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s show of togetherness at Cannes. There are similarities between the poses, but if you put together the red carpet photos of any two random starlets they would look like they were copying each other because there’s only so much you can do when you’re standing up and smiling for the cameras. With another person there, you can put your arm around them, look up at them, smile, laugh, etc.

Aniston really worked that dress and she doesn’t need to be compared to Angelina for the rest of her life. These two do have similar sense in fashion in that they both favor solid colors and classic lines. (Which in Angelina’s case sometimes means shapeless sacks.) They also have similar taste in men. Oh and Aniston and her co-star Gerard Butler are doing a “racy magazine spread” for W that will draw comparisons to Brad and Angelina’s 2005 “Domestic Bliss” portfolio. Whether Aniston and Butler will also head to a more permanent state of domesticity afterwards remains to be seen. In this case there’s no third party involved at least.

Here’s my favorite comment from the Huffington Post on this issue:

There are SO MANY many things about these pictures that are identical!
They both have dresses made of cloth.
They both have hair.
They are both alive.
They are not medical doctors.

This is truly amazing.

[From Halfwit on The Huffington Post]

This is not the photo we’re talking about here. That is on Radar Online
Jennifer Aniston was photographed talking on the phone while driving in California, which is illegal as of July 1, 2008. She was holding the phone up to her mouth but not her ear, and it looked like she was using the speakerphone. (You can see that photo on Radar Online, we don’t have the rights to it.) As obnoxious and illegal as it is, I have to admit that I’ve occasionally used the speakerphone on my cell phone while driving. Like if someone calls me while I’m driving and I don’t have the time to go digging through my purse for the headset I’ll just answer the phone and put them on speaker. I know this is wrong and that I am endangering my own lives and other’s lives, so feel free to remind me so that I don’t do this again.

First lady of California Maria Shriver was similarly photographed talking while driving, but in her case she was busted several times by TMZ. She ultimately got a strict talking-to by her husband, Governor Schwarzenegger, who signed the laws that she was violating.

There’s a lot of debate over an announcement by Ford that they plan to offer in-car Wifi in new models next year. The new system will work with the user’s USB mobile modem to broadcast the signal throughout the car for everyone to use. That’s incredibly convenient and useful for passengers and commuters who are responsible enough to pull over to use laptops, but you know that people are going to abuse it. Still, if someone has a USB modem they can already use it while they’re driving.

There’s also the issue of texting while driving, which is also illegal in California. With all the other ways we can be distracted while driving, using the cell phone might be seen as less harmful. Still, we shouldn’t be fooled. Talking on the phone is just as dangerous, if not more so, than driving drunk. The next time the phone rings when I’m driving I will let it go to voicemail for sure.

Photos are from 8/4/09 and 5/6/09. Credit: Fame Pictures

Jennifer Aniston is playing the field and loving it, if this week’s Star Magazine is to be believed. Most of this story seems to be based on some brief friendly encounters she had with various single men at recent parties, but that still counts to some. Aniston was seen flirting with singer Josh Groban and actor Josh Hopkins from friend Courtney Cox’s sitcom, Cougar Town, at separate events. Star also claims that Aniston is quietly dating actor Sam Rockwell, with whom she’s been linked in the past. I tend to believe the Sam Rockwell story before the other two, as Aniston is a friendly person and tabloids are quick to link people together when they’re talking for more than two minutes. Still, this is Star so the whole thing could be made up.

“Jen’s mood has changed so much lately – for the best,” an insider tells Star. “She’s gushing about all the guys she’s dating and about how much fun she’s having!”

At the release party for her yoga instructor Mandy Ingber’s DVD Yogalosophy… on Dec. 3, Jen cozied up to Josh Groban.

“Jen was glowing when she hugged Josh,” a source reports. “They chatted for more than 20 minutes, and she smiled the whole time, ignoring everyone else. You could tell she likes him.” While Josh is 12 years younger than 40-year-old Jen, he’s “mature beyond his years,” the source adds. “Jen and Josh have been speaking on the phone and e-mailing. He’s smitten, and she loves the attention!”

But Josh is just one of Jennifer’s Mr. Right Nows. On Dec. 6, BFF Courtney Cox brought another Josh, her Cougar Town costar Josh Hopkins, 39, to Jen’s annual holiday party at her Beverly Hills pad – and the pair hit it off!…

“Josh arrived kind of late, and when Jen saw him, she grabbed his hand and gave him a tour of her house. She was playing hostess to the max. The next day, the insider adds, Jen told Courtney that she liked Josh and wants to see him again.

“Josh had given Jen his cell number at the party and told her to call him. Courteney asked, ‘What are you waiting for?’ So Jen picked up the phone and asked Josh to come to her chili cook-off party.”

Busy Jennifer has also been quietly seeing Sam Rockwell, 41… “Jen and Sam have been on a couple of low-key dates in L.A., including a dinner at the Sunset Tower,” says a source. “Sam’s been concerned about them getting photographed – he wants to keep their dates under the radar for now.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, January 4, 2009]

I think Jen is just happy to be hanging out with her friends, throwing parties and having a good time. She’s rich, single and loving it. If something happens for her, so be it, but I don’t think she’s really looking hard for a committed relationship at this point.

Wouldn’t it suck to have to hide your dates from the press and worry that they’re going to pick apart your every move? It’s like Aniston is damned no matter what she does. If she doesn’t date anyone she’s lonely and if she is dating someone she’s desperate. She’s probably working to keep things quiet. If she is involved with actor Sam Rockwell then he has the right idea by laying low and not courting the paparazzi like cad John Mayer.

I remember hearing that John Mayer gave Jennifer Aniston one of his guy-style Rolexes and that she wore it proudly ,even sporting it after they broke up for the second time. They got together again after that, although it’s hard to tell how long it lasted.

Now that Jennifer and John are over again for good maybe, she’s been seen out driving a silver Bentley – that she reportedly bought for him. So he gave her an expensive watch and she bought him a Bentley? I wasn’t able to semi-confirm this news at all, and this is the first I’ve heard that she bought him a Bentley. Those cars cost over a quarter million, so I’d like to think she bought the thing for herself and not her hot and cold overly talkative lover. This news is in Star Magazine anyway, so the only true part could be the fact that she’s driving a Bentley.

Nothing says revenge like a brand-new Bentley! Jennifer Aniston has been cruising around in the $350,000 ride, but she didn’t get the sexy toy for herself – it was meant as a gift for her off-again ex, John Mayer! “Jen really wanted to knock John’s socks off with this car,” an insider tells Star. “Unfortunately, they broke up soon after she ordered it.” Jen didn’t let the expensive purchase go to waste. “She got back at John by keeping it for herself!” dishes the insider.

[From Star Magazine, print edition, December 14, 2009]

Yeah, all Star has is a timeline and Aniston in a new Bentley. It’s a nice car I guess, but it kind of seems like an old person car to me. There’s something kind of stodgy about the car, but I don’t like BMWs either and they have similar lines. I also think Louis Vuitton purses are ugly, so what do I know. Just because something is really expensive and luxurious doesn’t mean that everyone will necessarily covet it.

In related Jennifer Aniston news, she was served with legal papers outside the launch of her trainer’s new yoga DVD in LA last night. Photo agency Pacific Coast News reports that she was summoned to be a witness in a lawsuit against her agent, Todd Shemarya, who “is being sued by his former assistant Heather Devlin in a sexual harassment case.” That must have sucked to get served outside after a nice time out with friends. Also at the DVD launch were Courtney Cox, Ricki Lake, Josh Groban and Faye Resnick.

A car similar to Aniston’s new silver Bentley. Photo credit: LSDSL on Wikimedia.

Photos outside Aniston’s yoga DVD launch credit: Josephine Santos, PacificCoastNews.com. Other photos are from 11/30/09 at LAX and are credit: Fame Pictures

The video that we mention is on People.com and we can’t embed it.

I’m kind of hot and cold on Jennifer Aniston. I try not to judge celebrities by their media-crafted persona, but in Aniston’s case she seems content to let the media define her and to play along. In some interviews, Aniston is very funny and engaging, but on others, she’s kind of awkward and doesn’t seem to have a lot to say.

While I understand the criticism of the media’s focus on her single status, I also get the impression that she’s not really working that hard to change it. She’s a “live and let live” person though, and maybe she figures there’s no point fighting against an abstraction. We might get a different impression of Aniston once she branches out from romcoms and puts out the musical period film Goree Girls next year.

Anyway, I’ve said all that before and the point was to talk about Aniston’s endearing introduction to her good friend and yoga instructor Mandy Ingber’s new DVD. You can tell that she really loves to do yoga and is so happy to help out her friend. In a video clip available on People.com, Aniston says that yoga “completely changed my life” and tells us that doing the video “will totally pay off.” The new video is called “Yogalosophy” and is available through Ingber’s website for $29.95. There’s no better promotion for an exercise video than an endorsement from a celebrity with a great body.

In this introduction, you can see that Aniston is really in her element. This kind of reminds me why she was America’s sweetheart on TV for so many years. She’s still making plenty of movies and she just needs to bring more of this happy yoga mojo to her media appearances. I’m getting too philosophical about a quick video, but I definitely see the appeal of yoga.

I’m also including this gratuitous photo of yoga instructor Rodney Yee, because I’ve often thought “damn, he’s so hot” while I’m doing the downward dog to one of his Gaiam videos. I just googled him and found out he’s a creep, though. There goes that fantasy.

Last week’s OK! featured a deceptive cover that made it seem like it had an interview with Twilight’s golden couple, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Titled “Inside Our Home,” with the fake quote “We’re already like a married couple,” the article inside just had photos of the hotel suites that that stars were staying in while filming in Vancouver along with some thoughts from locals and merchants they’d run into.

This week OK! is a little more straightforward but still seems to promote an interview that won’t be inside. Featuring a photo taken of John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston in December, 2008, OK! promises “all the exclusive details on how Jen got her guitar-slinging loverboy back.” John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston’s on-again relationship, their third try on the reconciliation tilt a whirl, was confirmed by People Magazine on Thursday of last week, which was just too late to hit the tabloid print cycle.

On John Mayer’s new album Battle Studies , the singer croons, “Friends, lovers or nothing — we can only ever be one.”

And after months of steamy, no-strings-attached hookups with gal pal Jennifer Aniston, the on-off pair have decided what they want to be to each other: full-time lovers!

In the new issue of OK! — on sale everywhere Thursday — you’ll get all the exclusive details on how Jen got her guitar-slinging loverboy back… by playing hard-to-get!

Also, details of the reunited couple’s secret, steamy nights behind closed doors at Manhattan’s ultra-luxe Four Seasons Hotel. Plus, OK! reveals the Friends star’s plan to finally have the baby she’s been wanting for so long.

[From OK!]

Oh give me a break with the “Jennifer Aniston baby plan” story. We’ve heard that for years. If she’s still with Mayer and he hasn’t bailed yet with some lame complicated excuse then I hope she’s just in it for the sex. She knows better than to get too involved with that cad, but clearly she’s not thinking this through or she never would have gone there again.

I remember seeing an interview with Aniston on The Late Show in which she was promoting He’s Just Not That Into You and admitted that she hadn’t read the book. She disagreed with parts of it that were read out by Jay Leno. She said that she didn’t agree with the statements “He’s just not that into you if he’s not asking you out” because “aren’t men shy sometimes?” and “He’s just not that into you if he’s not calling you” asking “for how long?” She needs to read that book, and many more relationship self help books, and take the advice seriously.

I don’t think she’s as stuck on Mayer as OK! seems to be suggesting to move copies, but she is definitely wasting time if she’s looking for something long term. We won’t be hearing about this much longer, though. I doubt this will be a big seller for OK! and I doubt these two will stay together for more than a couple weeks in this third go-around.

The Daily Mail is running a story that originated in British rag Grazia that sounds completely fabricated. They claims that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston met up for an hour in Brad’s hotel suite in NY about two weeks ago. Brad, who allegedly met up with Jen while he was in NY to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative, was said to be “unloading his emotional baggage” on her. How many times have we heard b.s. variations of this same story? At least they could change it up a little:

It comes amid reports that Brad and Jennifer are in regular phone contact and – if true – their latest encounter marks their second private meeting together in the Big Apple this year.

A source told Grazia that Jennifer agreed to visit Brad in his suite at the Essex House hotel, next to Central Park.

‘She arrived at his hotel suite a matter of hours after they had spoken. Brad was unloading his emotional baggage on Jen, which isn’t exactly fair considering their history.’

But the source added: ‘She was quick to tell him she wanted no part in his break-up with Angelina.’
At first she was reported to be reluctant to meet with her former husband.

But the magazine alleges Brad got his mother Jane – who is famously still close to Jen – to persuade her to meet with him and give some advice.

It comes amid claims that his four-year relationship with Angelina has hit the rocks.

[From The Daily Mail]

I’m sure if Brad and Jen had some secret meeting that only one random British source would pick it up. This story is recycled trash. In June, Star Magazine ran a story that Brad and Jen had a two hour meeting in a NY hotel, which was promptly denied by the hotel in question. This follows a questionable story in In Touch in May in which it was claimed that they drove around NY for an hour in an SUV.

Whenever there’s a lack of photos of Brad and Angelina together the tabloids run stories that they’re having problems. Then we hear that Brad is unloading all his new emotional baggage on his ex wife. I’m surprised that Grazia didn’t claim that Aniston was telling Brad all about her pregnancy. This is creative fiction. We just saw photos of Brad and Angelina with their twins after they took a joint charity trip to visit refugees in Syria. There are also recent photos of them out grocery shopping in France with their two older girls. I doubt anyone knows more about these two than their respective romantic histories and whatever they say in interviews.

Oh and the tabloids also speculate on Brad and Angelina based on their appearance. Brad has been looking really scruffy lately so he must be boozing and having problems at home, right? Not so much. That very unkempt beard is for a role.