The National Enquirer is claiming that Jennifer Aniston is dating a “longtime friend,” film producer Scott Stuber, 40. The Enquirer has a couple of photos of Aniston and Scott looking like either very good friends or a little bit more, along with the news that Stuber recently separated from his wife. According to the Enquirer, Aniston and Stuber didn’t start a romance until well after he was separated and it’s not like a homewrecking situation at all. All of that sounds plausible, but then they kind of give the story away as creative fiction by claiming that Aniston was compelled to break it off with Gerard Butler because he refused to deny the fake quotes that were circulating in which someone falsely quoted him as admitting he’d been with men. The Enquirer had enough circumstantial evidence to make this new relationship seem possible, but then they had to go and ruin it with this Gerard Butler “gay scandal” nonsense. It could be true that the fake article bothered Aniston, but she hardly pays attention to the Internet from what she’s said and I doubt that’s something that would bother her that much.

Jennifer Aniston has traded in hunky movie star BF Gerard Butler for a handsome movie studio exec she’s known for years.

The Friends beauty, 40, has moved on to a new romance with film producer Scott Stuber, 40, in the wake of a gay scandal involving Butler, sources say.

“Jen is into Scott in a big way, and she’s distancing herself from Gerard,” a close friend told The ENQUIRER.

“Jen began stressing out over Gerard’s history as a womanizer, and then she began hearing crazy rumors about his sexuality. In the end, she figured Gerard was just too much drama.”

Luckily, according to the source, the new Mr. Right – her longtime friend Scott, who produced both The Break-Up and her new film Love Happens – has been right under her nose.

“Jen and Scott have known each other for years. They have a great working relationship and now that’s blossoming into romance,” said the source.

The two have been business associates for years, and though Jennifer has raved about their amazing chemistry, their love lives never fell into sync.

Sparks flew as far back as March 2007 when Jennifer and Scott flirted at a birthday party for Jennifer’s ex-boyfriend, Vince Vaughn.

They were also photographed holding hands in January 2008 on the Vancouver set of Love Happens.

But when Scott’s seven-month marriage to Star Trek actress Rachel Nichols ended in February 2009, Jen was caught up in her ill-fated romance with John Mayer.

“Scott has been a steady friend and confidante to Jen for years – and now the timing is finally right for more,” said the source.

[From The National Enquirer's website]

In the print version, they explain that the “gay scandal” is the fake interview and quote their source as saying “It embarrassed Jen that Gerard refused to debunk the interview as a hoax and was so nonchalant about the bogus claims.”

The Enquirer is dead on with a lot of breaking news, but they aren’t immune to using the same techniques as other tabloids in order to move copies. If Aniston is involved in a romance with a guy she’s known for years – good for her! Maybe this will work out. The guy does have a questionable record, though, as Wikipedia notes he was just married last July. That means that his marriage lasted all of seven months. I’m not convinced, though, as this story sounds too juicy to be true – “Gay scandal causes Aniston to break it off with Butler and take up with hunky just-separated producer!”

I think Aniston just hugs and holds hands and is generally a touchy-feely person with both her friends and colleagues. Then the tabloids say she’s dating whoever she’s photographed with if he happens to be single. Look at how she hugged on Owen Wilson at the Marley & Me premiere, and had her arm around Aaron Eckhart at the Love Happens premiere. When we see her out with this new guy, then I’ll believe it. I’m still not sure if she ever had a fling with Gerard Butler, and we’ll probably never know either way. Good for her for trying to keep some things secret. The tabloids will make it up if there’s even a small amount to go on, though.

Scott Stuber and his estranged wife, Rachel Nichols, are shown below

The NY Post is running a story that is sure to provide tabloid fodder for months to come: Jennifer Aniston cried on set! Over a scene that reminded her of her ex – Brad Pitt! You know, the one that ran off with the skinny temptress? If this is even partially true, I feel for Aniston – not because she had a temporary moment of weakness or because she could somehow be still affected by memories of her ex, but because she’s going to be mocked for this one incident ceaselessly. Her rep says this never happened, but you know how it goes – once the information is out there it will get repeated and become part of the “poor Jen” mantra.

Jennifer Aniston burst into tears in her trailer while filming in New York — telling an assistant that a scene “reminded her of Brad Pitt,” a source said.

The unlucky-in-love actress was late coming out of her trailer while filming “The Bounty” with Gerard Butler a few weeks ago. The source tells Page Six that when an assistant went to fetch Aniston, she was in tears, and said, “I need a moment. This scene reminds me of Brad and me.”

Aniston pulled herself together and managed to put on a smile when she eventually emerged from her trailer. The insider added, “While she enjoyed flirting with Gerard on set and put a brave face on every day, privately she is still very fragile.”

Since Pitt dumped her back in 2005, Aniston has been involved with Vince Vaughn, Paul Sculfor and John Mayer. Describing how she had come to terms with her single-girl label, she told Elle’s September issue, “If I’m the emblem for ‘this is what it looks like to be the lonely girl getting on with her life,’ so be it.”

Aniston’s spokesman, Stephen Huvane, says the story about her crying in the trailer is “ridiculous . . . it never happened.”

[From NY Post]

Here’s what I think happened – Aniston started crying over something at work, probably because she was damn exhausted and upset at something completely non-Brad related. Actors regularly work 12-16 hour days and I know that the one time I worked a 12 hour shift on my feet I was practically crying afterwards. Little things can set you off when you’re worn out. Someone heard that she was teary-eyed and the story got repeated and eventually it became “Jen cried over Brad!” I do feel like saying “poor Jen,” but it’s more because it doesn’t matter what she does, it’s all about Brad all the time.

I’m trying to think of something Aniston could do that would help bring the collective tabloid focus away from her “lonely girl” status. Maybe she could cut her trademark hair into a cute bob – like one of those cuts that angles down toward the face. If she did that though, it would be “Jen tries to escape her past with fresh start,” or “Jen cuts off hair in desperate move to smite Angelina’s long tresses!” Did you see that funny video on Aniston’s tabloid life from The Soup that we posted yesterday?

Jennifer Aniston is shown at the premiere of Love Happens on 9/15/09. She does not have a “bump.” Credit: Fame Pictures

It’s Wednesday so we’re being blessed with the covers of the upcoming weekly tabloids. OK! Magazine is making the spurious claim on this week’s cover that Jennifer Aniston is pregnant. This all seems to be based on a small “bump” she was sporting at the premiere of her new movie, Love Happens. The thing is, Aniston sometimes gets this very minor “pooch” when she’s gained a tiny bit of weight, and it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s pregnant. I can remember at least three separate instances when she gained 5 pounds (max) and outlets, including us, were quick to call her pregnant. This time, Fox News called her belly “sexy” in a kind of condescending way, and then tried to make it sound like they were complimenting her by declaring that “Real bodies are back in!”

OK Magazine takes that a step further by declaring that Aniston is pregnant. We have a Life and Style cover from 2006 and a Star Magazine cover from early 2008, below, that pretty much say the same thing using the same kind of photos. If this is somehow true, congratulations to Aniston, but I doubt that OK! has anything more to go on than some red carpet photos.

Jennifer Aniston has never hid the fact that her biological clock is a-ticking and who could blame her: She turned 40 in February and most of her Hollywood pals — like Courteney Cox and Sheryl Crow — are already mothers, a role she’s ready to embrace.

“I feel [motherhood is] in my future and I’m on the verge of it in some way,” the Love Happens star has said in recent months. “I want to have children. That’s my plan.”

And at least one Aniston insiders tells OK! that becoming a parent has quickly become a high priority for the actress, who has scheduled several months off before starting her next project in 2010.

“Jen’s made no secret of the fact she wants to get pregnant,” says the source. “Now, with nothing on her schedule for a while, she can relax and address the priorities that matter most — and motherhood is right at the top of her list.

“She wants to have a baby soon,” adds the insider. “And has set her heart on getting pregnant before her 41st birthday.”

For the complete story on Jen’s baby plans, including her plans for picking the baby daddy and how she’s reconciling with her own estranged mother — pick up the new issue of OK! — on sale everywhere Thursday!

[From OK! Magazine]

OK! is really turning into Star Magazine lately. It’s like Life & Style and In Touch have more integrity. I found this really funny segment from The Soup making fun of the tabloid coverage of Jennifer Aniston’s love life. This made me laugh out loud several times. The “pregnancy” angle from OK! is just a small variation on the ceaseless broken record we’ve been hearing from the tabloids on Aniston for years. It isn’t even an original one. Note to Aniston: never hold your hand over your stomach – ever.

Thanks to Laxmobster at Gossip Rocks for posting this video!

We’re prefacing this story with the fact that it’s from In Touch, because you know that means that it falls somewhere between complete bunk and hearsay. In Touch adds some details that give this story some legitimacy, but they also had a date and details of a supposed meeting last November where Angelina Jolie announced a pregnancy to producers of her film Salt, and we know that never happened.

According to In Touch, John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston are still hooking up secretly, and John’s other on-again booty call, Jessica Simpson, doesn’t know about it. All Aniston has to do, they say, is crook her finger and Mayer will drop Simpson again (and probably get tired of Aniston in a few days once she’s fully available to him).

As In Touch recently reported, Jessica [Simpson] has been sneaking around with John [Mayer] ever since getting dumped by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo just a day before her 29th birthday in July. “John told Jessica that she’s his soulmate,” an insider says, “and she fell for it.”

But little does she know that John, 31… has his eyes on another prize – another ex, Jennifer Aniston…

According to a source, John has been secretly seeing Jen – and during the weekend of September 5, “they spent the night together after Jen returned to LA, just before John took off to New York. It was a totally private date at the spur of the moment.”

While the rendezvous may have been spontaneous, John’s plan to win Jen over again has been carefully crafted. “He’s desperate to get back with her. He wants her more than ever,” says a pal. In addition to telling Jen, 40, that he loves her and he was a fool, Jon’s exploiting her weakness and promising that he wants to have babies with her…

While Jen contemplates getting back together with John, Jessica could be setting herself up for a heartbreak if she continues seeing him. “He doesn’t see anything more than sex in the relationship,” says the insider. “The second Jen says she’s ‘in,’ he’ll drop Jessica and be gone.”

[From In Touch, print edition, September 28, 2009]

As Kaiser has pointed out a few times, John was quick to deny dating Kristin Cavallari but hasn’t said a darn thing about a renewed relationship with Jessica Simpson. That’s not like him not to run his mouth off and twitter incessantly about something, and I bet he is seeing her again on the sly. It sounds like him to try and win Aniston back again too, but it’s not like he would be pining for either of them if this is true – he just wants to know that he can have them again if he wants. Once the deal is sealed he quickly loses interest.

Maybe the very tragic loss of Jessica’s dog will help her re-evaluate her life and cut Mayer out of it for good. She doesn’t deserve to be anyone’s booty call if she expects more out of a relationship. I also hope that Aniston has better sense than that, but like the characters she plays in those romcoms she seems a little foolish in love. Hopefully she’s not this foolish, and this story is fiction.

John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston are shown at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on 2/22/09. Credit: WENN.com

Jennifer Aniston was a guest on Ellen yesterday. She is promoting her new film, Love Happens, out this Friday. There’s a slim possibility the film could be delayed by a lawsuit filed by two screenwriters who claim that the story was stolen from them, but that probably won’t happen.

Aniston was in her element on Ellen, and I find her very friendly and likable when she has a good rapport with a host. She’s one of those people who really adjusts based on who she’s with and for that reason her interviews can be hit or miss. Ellen is a good friend of Aniston’s, though, and the two had some cute banter and spent some time catching up. At one point Aniston cracked a self-deprecating joke that made me laugh out loud.

On the tabloids’ fascination with her dating life
Ellen: Let’s talk about your dating life. Why are people so fascinated by it? I’m not asking who you’re dating. How come… they’re always talking about ‘you’re devastated’?

Aniston: I know, how do I get that end of the story every time?

Ellen: How come you’re not devastating people? They should be devastated.

Aniston: I know. How do I do that? I’ve got to talk to the people in those cubicles that are writing up those stories.

Ellen: Change it around. They’re getting the raw end of the deal, losing her. What’s wrong with people?

Aniston: They’ve just got to figure out something more interesting to talk about.

[From Jennifer Aniston's appearance on Ellen, aired 9/16/09]

After the break they showed a clip from Love Happens, and were talking about what a great guy Aniston’s costar, Aaron Eckhart, is. Jen cracked a joke that was very subtle and funny. When Ellen said something about not wanting to work with people you don’t get along with, Aniston quipped “I’ve been very lucky though. I’ve really loved everybody that I’ve worked with, literally.” She then looked at the audience and made a funny gesture.

We were next treated to Aniston singing a capella, and she was pretty good. She explained that in her upcoming film, Goree Girls, she plays an inmate who helped start one of the first all-female country bands. The film is a dramatization of a true story from the 1940s. Ellen asked Aniston to sing and she protested at first, saying that Ellen’s people promised they wouldn’t make her sing, but then belted out a very competent version of “I’ve Got a Crush on You.” Did Aniston bring it? I thought she sort-of did. Ellen, who is set to be the fourth judge on American Idol, said she would put her through to the next round.

Yesterday we covered Jennifer Aniston’s recent interview in Hello! Magazine, in which she claimed that she didn’t think much about her appearance, and wouldn’t say whether or not she was dating Gerard Butler, but called him “magical” and “fantastic.” Aniston’s rep clarified that Aniston gave those comments in a press conference, and not to Hello! exclusively. It’s a subtle difference, but it’s not like she didn’t say it. I think the problem is that when multiple outlets report quotes without giving the context it makes it look like the celebrity is repeating themselves. Aniston is often a victim of this, but she also throws a lot out for the wolves to gnaw on.

I was all for Aniston when she made the “uncool” statement to Vogue nine months ago, because it seemed to signify a new kind of candor from her. Now that she’s given many more interviews, I get the impression that she throws a lot out there, sees what sticks and then blames the media for focusing on what she says. She called the “lonely girl” headlines after her best friend interviewed her for Elle “bullsh*t,” but she did discuss that issue in detail. It’s like she plays the game and knows the rules but then calls it unfair.

In a recent interview in Parade Magazine, Aniston gave many more quotable statements, including the fact that she enjoys self help books and finds celebrity gossip embarrassing – for consumers like us who find it fun. She also loves cleaning toilets because it was her chore as a child. I love cleaning the bathroom for the same reason – is that weird? My husband doesn’t mind. (These are not presented in the same order as on Parade.com)

Keeping the lid on her personal life.
“I feel like it’s no one’s business. I don’t know about your life. I don’t want to, truthfully. It’s not my business. It’s a very strange thing. But somehow it’s like there was some clause somewhere that said, ‘Well, you’re a public person so we get to go into your house and search through your drawers.’ I don’t know who came up with it because I wouldn’t have signed on. I don’t think anybody would have.”

But fans can’t seem to get enough.
“It’s embarrassing that people are focused so much and putting so much money into gossip magazines to escape. The paparazzi and the magazines deserve their share of the blame, but they’re just supplying a demand. It’s unfortunate that people don’t care that they’ve been lied to, they don’t care that they’re being sort of messed with and not given the full truth. They buy them anyway.”

There’s nothing wrong with a little advice.
“I’m always going to be interested if somebody gives me a self-help book. I’ll at least give it the first couple of pages because sometimes they speak and sometimes they don’t. But they’re worth investigating.”

And don’t criticize her for it.
“I say to people who look down their noses at motivational books, ‘Screw them.’ I’m telling you, people have got to mind their own business. It just shows, so obviously, their own fear or resentment. They put down somebody else’s choice to sort of make themselves feel superior. They could probably use a little self-help themselves.”

Learning about romance from doing romantic movies.
“They probably don’t help because one is work and one is life. I certainly try to access my personal life when I’m doing my job. But you know what they say, ‘Art imitates life, life imitates art.’”

Her own prescription for living.
“I say, ‘Stay positive.’ It doesn’t mean that we can get through anything. But we have to recognize that it’s fear that sort of sets everything on fire and spreads until everybody kind of gets on the fear bandwagon. That’s just ridiculous.”

How to argue with someone you care about.
“I’m not a fighter, I’m a discusser. I could probably use more fight in me. I don’t yell. I talk. I can get dirty. I’ve been guilty of dirty fighting. But usually I don’t like to fight. I like it to be harmonious and fun. So the quicker we can discuss an issue and get through it, the sooner we get back to the fun.”

The rocky road to success.
“I made my allowance as a kid cleaning toilets. I’m actually pretty good at it. I grew up with absolutely no money at all. I struggled for a while, but I was happy with my life whether I was making this amount of money, or that amount of money. I always enjoyed where I was working. I loved being a waitress. OK, I didn’t like time-share selling, I hated that job. But people used to say to me, ‘You need to focus on having ambition.’ And I guess sort of following that advice allowed a lot to come to me. There’s just been a great ease with that evolvement in my life to being an actress. I didn’t change that much, but my bank account changed.”

[From Parade.com]

I like self help books too, but I realize they’re not for everyone and that they can be trite and oversimplified. If someone doesn’t agree I wouldn’t put them down or anything. Some of it is absolute drivel but I still enjoy it.

It’s hard to relate to the “gossip sucks” mentality, because it’s fun to know what’s going on with people. A lot of us know that much of it is made up, but we still like to read about it – just like Aniston enjoys self help books. I’m sure we’d all feel differently if our life experiences were twisted and fabricated to sell magazines. Maybe we’d change and start giving confusing and kind of defensive answers in interviews.

Does Aniston need to do all this press for her film? If it bothers her, maybe she should take a break. She can put movies out without making herself so vulnerable and uncomfortable if that’s what’s going on with her. I get the impression that she does press and just hates the aftermath. Is there any way she can escape the box she’s been placed in by the media? It’s like no matter what she says it doesn’t matter and she knows it.

Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart are shown at the premiere of Love Happens in LA last night. Credit: WENN.com

There’s been plenty of speculation when it comes to whether Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler were ever more than just friends and co-stars. Earlier this summer, Butler denied any kind of romance with Aniston but heaped praise on her, saying it was a pleasure to work with her and calling her a “classy lady.” The two were photographed arm in arm on set and were supposedly spotted kissing, but I had a hard time believing there was any kind of romance there. If there was, it seemed to be short-lived and I couldn’t see Butler really settling down at all. He seems like the type who is happy with brief hook ups and who might have a fling with a co-star as long as he keeps it casual. (So he’s still available for Kaiser.) PopSugar held a poll on this issue, and almost 80% of the people who responded either didn’t care if these two were together, or thought they were just friends.

Hello! Magazine has an interview with Jennifer Aniston in which she’s promoting her new film with Aaron Eckhart, Love Happens, which is out this Friday, September 18, in the US. While Hello! has been caught cobbling together old interviews with Aniston and trying to pass them off as new, this one seems legitimate. Aniston talks about the rumors that she’s had a boob job – bullsh*t – about the rumors that she hooked up with Gerard Butler – not telling, but he’s fantastic – and about her appearance – she doesn’t think much about it.

On plastic surgery rumors: bullsh*t
[T]he latest story, that she has had her breasts cosmetically enhanced, is the one that really has her hopping mad.

“It’s such bull****,” she fumes when we meet in Beverly Hills… “I normally ignore stories about me because they tend to take on a life of their own that has no connection with me, and I find that, no matter what I say or do, I can’t find a way to correct them.

“But it does get frustrating sometimes, because I happen to love my job, which is making movies – I do it the best way I can. And I care about making films that people enjoy.

“I think it distracts from that when some idiot somewhere, who’s annoyed about something for some reason, has created a ridiculous story that I had saline implants over the space of one weekend.”

On future plastic surgery: never say never
“I will never, ever say ‘never’ about anything.

“And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with making yourself feel better about how you look – although we’ve all seen how you can go too far with it. But for me, until that day has to happen, I’ll try every other way to make myself feel good first.”

On her appearance: she doesn’t think about it
“I don’t think a lot about my physical appearance. It is what it is and I can’t control it. I pay attention to the extent that I put on clothes today, I decided which shoes to wear with them and I even combed my hair! But apart from that, I just feel I am what I am.

“I do have to pay attention to [my health] because as an actor, my body is my instrument. But it’s more about the energy level than about what it looks like…”

On a rumored relationship with Gerard Butler: he’s “magical”
“Whether I’m seeing someone or not is nobody’s business but my own.

“I will say that Gerry Butler is a great person. He’s absolutely fantastic and yes, magical would be a word that I’d throw in there, too. But the rest is my business. No harm in keeping people guessing, right?”

On guys who might be interested in her and wondering if she’s single
“Well, they can take care of themselves. It’s up to the guy – if a man has balls, he can do whatever he wants to. If a man has the courage to find out for himself whether I’m with someone or not, then he’ll find out somehow. If he doesn’t, he won’t.”

[From Hello! Magazine, print edition, September 21, 2009]

I would guess from Aniston’s response that she at least had something going with Butler in the past, if not when she gave this interview. She calls him “magical” and instead of denying a romance she gets kind of touchy about the whole subject. That’s telling to me.

I don’t know what to make of her claim that she doesn’t think about her appearance, though. In that same interview she talks about feeling “sort of clunky” in her twenties and thirties, explaining that she “was still trying to figure out who I was and how I fitted into my skin.” To me that’s part attitude and part appearance. Aniston didn’t just become so fit and attractive accidentally, she worked on it. Maybe she means that she just does what she needs to do and doesn’t worry about it. She said in another recent interview that she “had people” who help her keep her hair perfect. To me, that shows a level of caring about how she looks that goes beyond just doing what’s necessary for her job. Again, there’s nothing wrong with it, but I personally would admit that my appearance matters to me.

In terms of the plastic surgery rumors I always thought that Aniston just used those “chicken cutlet” type external boob enhancers. She may not have had invasive plastic surgery, but she seems like she’s a botox fan to me. In her last appearance on Oprah it really looked that she had trouble moving her face, but she did tell Elle she’d only tried Botox once. This week’s Star Magazine schooled me on a new non-implant surgical procedure to increase bust size – the “boob jab.” They claim that Aniston had it done and that it explains her enhanced cleavage. Boob jabs typically cost about $4,000 and involve injecting fillers into the breasts that can increase them up to a cup size. The effects can last from 12-18 months. I’m still voting for chicken cutlets for Aniston, though.

Jennifer Aniston sat down with CNN for a quickie little four-and-a-half minute interview, and nothing much happens. I mean, of course, “love happens” because that’s the name of her movie, get it? I have to say this – Jennifer Aniston has been building her whole life for this promotional tour. Her sort of girlish ruminations on “love happening” and all of the cloying questions about making relationships work, it’s all right up her self-help alley. Here’s a transcript of part of the interview… note how quickly she backtracks when the reporter comes close to saying her ruminations contradict what Oprah teaches:

CNN: What does it take to make love happen?
JA: I think you have to relinquish control. As I don’t think it’s something you can control or really choose. You know, it sorta of chooses you.
CNN: Being open to it…
JA: Being open to it and being open to what form it comes in, what package it’s delivered to you in… and people have ways, ‘Well, it’s supposed to look like this’ or ‘No, I won’t do this’. They have all these rules already sorta preset ideas of what the person’s supposed to be, how it’s supposed to be, when it’s supposed to be, all of these plans…and then…
CNN: And then you’ve got Oprah out there telling you make a list of every single thing you want, and it’ll come to you.
JA: I think that’s different than… but it’s not about what you…what you want, the quality of the person – a kind person, a funny person, you know, a nurturing person.

[Transcribed from CNN Video]

So you shouldn’t have a preset idea of what love is going to look like (when it “happens”) except when Oprah tells you to make a list of everything you want in a man, and how you should reject any guy who doesn’t match up to the list? Aniston is giving me a tension headache.

There is some confusion when the CNN reporter asks her about her interview in Australian Harper’s Bazaar (which we covered Monday), when she was asked “Why do you think the romance goes out of a relationship?” Her response at the time was: “I think it’s laziness. I really do. I think a good relationship is about collaboration. That’s the way to go in a relationship. I think you just need to talk to each other. Say what you need. Say what you want. That way it’s not threatening. You just need to say, ‘This is important to me.’ Don’t expect your mate to read your mind.”

Jennifer got confused when the CNN reporter asked her about her “lazy” comment from Bazaar, and she says she thought she said it to Elle. She might have – she says a lot of the same stuff in most of her interviews, but the first and only time I think I’ve ever read her blaming “laziness” on a relationship’s decline was in Bazaar. In the CNN interview, Aniston agrees with herself, saying “Well, I think that with anything, if you’re lazy it withers and dies. Your work… your flowers…love. It all takes attention to… things.” Dude… she listed flowers before love. Classic.

The CNN reporter also asks her at one point about the Elle/Bazaar (who knows at this point) quote, where Jennifer was asked, “Do you think that women in general do too much in relationships?” Jennifer replied: “Oh yeah. I think that’s because it’s just instinctual as a woman to be the caretaker of your home. Women complain that men don’t do enough, but it’s your own fault. You train your man to do nothing. You can’t blame someone for not knowing what his or her job should be if you don’t ask for it right off the bat.”

In the CNN interview, Jennifer comes close to disagreeing with herself on that point, saying “I think not ‘too much’ maybe just working hard to allow a man to feel comfortable in a room. Sort of. Um… women can do too much, over-doting on somebody, like you’re selling a car, when you’re just in a relationship.” “Over-doting” is my new favorite verb. Must. Use. Today.

Jennifer talks more about “love happening” in her normal hippie-dippy self-help-speak. I mean, yeah, some of what she’s saying I agree with, but only because she’s just regurgitating clichés that are clichés for a reason, you know? You have to “learn how to be vulnerable” and “love isn’t easy”. Please, more pearls of wisdom, Mahatma Aniston!

Towards the end of the interview, she sort of goes off on a tangent talking about “love happening” and she says, “It’s not the longevity of a relationship that… that, uh, that shows it’s success, I think it’s the… you know… you have a really positive two-year experience that really taught you something, I don’t think that determines the success or failure.” When was Jennifer’s last two-year relationship again?

Here’s Jennifer on the set of The Bounty in Queens, NY on 8/24/09. Images thanks to WENN.com .

Kathy Griffin was on CNN last night, shrilling her new book Official Book Club Selection. Yesterday, we heard about Kathy’s gross, torrid affair with Jack Black. Now we’re hearing about her love of Levi Johnston, and her obsession with Jennifer Aniston. Kathy met Levi, the baby-daddy of the Bristol Palin (the former Alaska Governor’s oldest daughter), when he was her “date” at the Teen Choice Awards. She also interviewed him when she stood in for Larry King a month ago. Kathy now claims Levi is “using” her for her “incredibly hot body.” Kathy also says that soon she and Levi will be getting married. Regarding Jennifer Aniston, Kathy had this great line: “Look, I am always going to want to be Jennifer Aniston, maybe more than Jennifer Aniston wants to be Jennifer Aniston.” Ha!

During a visit to CNN on Tuesday to chat with Campbell Brown, comedian Kathy Griffin talked about everything from her desire to be just like Jennifer Aniston to her impending nonexistent nuptials to Levi Johnston to why Oprah is a dude.

“Soon — I’m not going to say when — but you’re going to have to address me as Kathy Griffin Johnston,” she joked, referring to Sarah Palin’s former almost-son-in-law, who was Kathy’s “date” to the Teen Choice Awards in August. “because I have met someone and what we have is special.”

The redheaded star of My Life on the D-List referred to their romance as “love at first photo-op… Which is similar to first sight. And if you think about it, you know, the wind blows many different ways and I am pretty close to basically living in the White House.”

When Campbell as the tough question of “who is using who” in their “relationship,” Kathy cleared the air by replying, “I would have to say that Levi Johnston is using me for my incredibly hot body… And that’s okay with America, because the last time I checked, we have rights in this country and I have the right to love a hunting man in an igloo named Levi.”

Speaking of her body, Kathy also talked openly about her ordeals with plastic surgery, including a botched liposuction, which is photographed and detailed in her new book, Official Book Club Selection.

“I have a picture in the book that is so heinous, you can’t even believe it,” she told Campbell. “And it’s a picture of my botched liposuction that looks like a CSI photo.”

Kathy, who admits she had the lipo because, “I was on a television show and thought that I could be thinner and better and happier,” included the photo in her book as a warning to others.

“I wanted women to know when you get liposuction, trying to be Jennifer Aniston, this is what it really looks like,” she explained.

Kathy also confessed that she still falls into the trap of looking in the mirror and seeing imperfections or listening to casting directors and agents who tell her that a nip here and a tuck there will be the answer to her prayers.

“Look, I am always going to want to be Jennifer Aniston, maybe more than Jennifer Aniston wants to be Jennifer Aniston,” she revealed.

On the topic of celebs, Campbell got Kathy to give her impressions of several famous folks:

Rush Limbaugh— “A drug addict and a tool and a blowhard.”

Jon Gosselin—“He is hilariously ridiculous and I can’t get enough of his Ed Hardy wear with the big pythons on his shirts and things like, you know, live hard or die.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger— “That guy’s had more face work than I have.”

Michelle Obama— “I think the very most important thing about this administration is her arms and how does she get them?”

Oprah— “Well, I’m a little scared of her… I think he does great things for the world and that’s what’s important… I’m sorry, she. Her royal highness… I love to make fun of Oprah and the truth is I really, really truly watch her show every single day. So she’s, you know, there’s a lot of people like that, I make fun of but I also love. I love to make fun of Celine Dion and I also have every CD. They’re not mutually exclusive.”

[From OK! Magazine]

Of all of the people Kathy calls out, I love that she’s trying to start something with Rush Limbaugh. I hope Rush takes the bait, and disrespects her right back. Rush is a worthy opponent for Kathy – some of the people she calls out don’t know how to handle it. A Limbaugh versus Griffin throw down could be televised. It would be brilliant. And, by the way, what will it take for Oprah to have Kathy back on her show? That would be amazing television too!

Kathy Griffin is shown outside of Barnes & Noble in the Tribeca area of NY on 8/9/09. Credit: WENN.com

Jennifer Aniston is the October cover girl for Australia’s Harper’s Bazaar. The only reason I’m covering it is because it looks like Jennifer actually sat down and did a photo shoot and an interview with the magazine, as opposed to the mag just using an old photo shoot and cobbled-together quotes. At first I did think it was an old photo shoot, because I seemed to remember a very similar/identical pants-less get-up for a photo shoot Jennifer did with People Magazine… that I’ve just looked up. I’ve just been comparing the photos and… yeah… it may be an old photo shoot. Unless Jennifer decided to do yet another photo shoot pants-less, wearing a black v-neck sweater and sitting on a black stool in front of a washed-out blue-grey background. The only difference I can see is that Bazaar seemed to add a jaunty black hat on Jennifer, which I like very much. She should wear hats more often, they look good on her.

While I still have questions about the photo shoot, the interview sounds totally legit. And by “totally legit” I mean “Jennifer says the same things in different ways in most interviews.” The whole interview is to promote Jennifer’s new film, Love Happens, which also stars Aaron Eckhart. He plays a self-help guru, Jennifer plays an “eccentric, unlucky-in-love florist” with great hair, of course. Bazaar calls Aniston’s fashion sense, “classic, almost minimalist” and applauds her “keeping-it-real” style. The author describes Jennifer’s outfit for the sit-down interview: “a pair of snug jeans and a short-sleeved lacy cotton black top, adorned with nothing but her long, flowing hair and a man-style gold Rolex watch.” I prefer men’s watches too. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Harper’s Bazaar: How is it that your hair looks so perfect, even in this rainy weather, when everybody else is having a bad-hair day?
Jennifer Aniston: “Um, I have people.”

HB: Several of your recent movies have been about relationships — whether in the dating world or about married couples. Has it been important to you to have closure when a real-life relationship ends?
JA: “I think it’s important to have closure in any relationship that ends — from a romantic relationship to a friendship. You should always have a sense of clarity at the end and know why it began and why it ended. You need that in your life to move cleanly into your next phase.”

HB: Are you still a romantic or have your relationship experiences made you cynical?
JA: “I’m still a romantic. I still believe in love.”

HB: Do you think that women in general do too much in relationships?
JA: “Oh yeah. I think that’s because it’s just instinctual as a woman to be the caretaker of your home. Women complain that men don’t do enough, but it’s your own fault. You train your man to do nothing. You can’t blame someone for not knowing what his or her job should be if you don’t ask for it right off the bat.”

HB: Why do you think the romance goes out of a relationship?
JA: “I think it’s laziness. I really do. I think a good relationship is about collaboration. That’s the way to go in a relationship. I think you just need to talk to each other. Say what you need. Say what you want. That way it’s not threatening. You just need to say, ‘This is important to me.’ Don’t expect your mate to read your mind.”

HB: You seem to imply that your work success is because of luck. Are success and luck the same thing? Is luck how you got to be so successful?
JA: “I don’t know. I’ve never sat and plotted out how I was going to become successful or famous. I just really wanted to work — to do good work — ever since I was at the High School of Performing Arts [in New York]. My Russian acting coach told me I was a disgrace to the Moscow Theatre. So I was determined to prove him wrong and do good work. I’ve never had my eye on a prize. I really wanted to enjoy the passage of time. Before Friends and the success of that I have a graveyard of sitcoms that, thank god, you don’t know about. I was happy to get a job every year, whether it went on or not.”

HB: You’ve talked about doing very different types of roles in various films such as The Break-Up, Derailed, Marley & Me and He’s Just Not That Into You. What are you looking for right now, for yourself, when it comes to film roles?
JA: “Well, I think I’m always looking for good work. You know, dramatic, comedic, whatever it is. Sometimes things come along at the perfect time and it’s sort of fate. Other times, I just want to take some time off until something really wonderful comes along.”

HB: We hear that directing, producing — and even singing — are on the horizon?
JA: “Yes, I like to stretch myself. And I can carry a tune.”

[From Harper’s Bazaar]

She really is going to try to sing for one of her next films – it’s a project called The Goree Girls. Jennifer is set to produce and star in the film about “a 1940s-set musical centered around a group of incarcerated female country-and-western performers.” There were some rumors that Gerard Butler was going to sign on to play someone in the film, like the band’s promoter or something, but he’s not listed on the pre-production credits yet. There’s also a rumor that The Goree Girls will be Jennifer’s Oscar stab – that she’ll pull a Charlize Theron and ugly it up to play a women’s prison inmate (who sings!). It could work, I guess. It’s like the Charlize method mixed with a dash of Reese Witherspoon. Oscar! But only if Jennifer shanks someone with a toothbrush!

Here’s the trailer for Love Happens

Love Happens Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers

Thanks to CoverAwards for the Bazaar Australia cover. Other pictures are stills from Love Happens, which is out 9/18/09 in the US. Thanks to AllMoviePhoto