Exactly 20 years ago this month, we got the news none of us expected – Hollywood’s golden couple, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, had split.
After seven years together and five years of marriage, two of the industry’s biggest names were just “friends”, according to the tabloids.
The news of their separation seemed to come out of nowhere, making it all the more heartbreaking for fans.
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“For those who follow these sorts of things, we would like to explain that our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media,” the joint statement from the actors read.
“This decision is the result of much thoughtful consideration.”
While many had hope for the couple, Aniston made it official, filing for divorce two months after their announcement.
What we didn’t know at the time was that something else was brewing underneath the surface, something that we’d only be privy to a few months on.
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It was delivered to us with yet another media statement, this time in the form of a magazine spread titled Domestic Bliss: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at Home.
The 60-page photo spread in W Magazine, conceived by Pitt and the photographer Steven Klein, depicted the life cycle of a marriage.
It began with a happy family with five sons enjoying their time in their Palm Springs home until the marriage slowly breaks down in some very sensual photos.
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20 years on: The celebrity moments that defined 2005
For those who know how the story ends, the shoot was almost prophetic.
It of course sparked enormous controversy in the form of a very early noughties media narrative of “Team Jolie vs Team Aniston” – complete with t-shirts you could buy to pledge your allegiance.
But what had raised fans’ eyebrows even more was that Jolie and Pitt flatly denied that they were together at the time.
The scandal grew so big that even Aniston weighed in, saying a “sensitivity chip” had been missing in regards to the publication of the magazine spread.
“I can’t say it was one of the highlights of my year,” the Friends star admitted in an interview later in 2005.
“Who would deal with that and say, ‘Isn’t that sweet! That looks like fun!’? But … you joke and say, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’
“I would much rather everyone move on. I am not defined by this relationship.”
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“Brangelina”, as they were later famously christened, only confirmed their romance months on from the shoot, insisting there was no overlap with Pitt and Aniston’s divorce.
They maintained this stance for years – despite fans continuing to have their suspicions – that is, until Jolie slipped up.
In a 2008 interview with The New York Times, she shared that she looked forward to the day her children were old enough to watch Mr and Mrs Smith because, “Not a lot of people get to see a movie where their parents fell in love.”
This tiny detail caused a tidal wave effect across the Hollywood gossip mill, since it was widely known that at the time of filming, Pitt was still very much married to Aniston.
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Pitt dug the hole he and Jolie were in even deeper a few months on, confirming what we all suspected to Rolling Stone.
After being asked why the action film is his favourite, he simply said, “Because, you know… six kids. Because I fell in love.”
The couple came to have six children together – three adopted and three biological. Jolie had adopted Maddox and Zahara in 2002 and 2005 respectively, with Pitt tagging along to finalise the adoption proceedings, later adopting them as his own children.
In 2006, they welcomed their biological daughter Shiloh – selling the first photos of her for millions in a world first – and in 2007 she adopted three-year-old Pax from Vietnam.
Finally, the couple welcomed their last two children, twins Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline in 2008.
The couple went on to get engaged in 2012 and tied the knot in 2014 in a private ceremony in the chapel of Château Miraval, the family’s estate in Correns, a French village, and the location of the couple’s wine business.
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But only two short years later, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt.
“Angelina Jolie Pitt has filed for dissolution of the marriage. This decision was made for the health of the family,” Jolie’s attorney told People at the time.
“She will not be commenting at this time, and asks that the family be given their privacy during this difficult time.”
Pitt also told People in a statement, “I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the well being of our kids. I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time.”
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Though no one knew what caused the split at the time, events occurring in the years following clued us in to the troubles in their marriage.
The former couple fought through a number of legal battles, including custody of the children, splitting of financial assets – including Jolie selling her stake in their wine business – and even an FBI case into an incident that happened on a private plane in 2016, just days before Jolie filed for divorce.
Finally, on December 30, 2024, the former couple made their divorce official.
“More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt. Since that time, she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family,” Jolie’s lawyer James Simon said in a statement.
“Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”
Meanwhile, Aniston began a relationship with actor, director, and screenwriter Justin Theroux in 2011, marrying him in 2015 and separating from him in 2017.
Despite their complicated ending, Aniston and Pitt made their way to becoming friends again, just as the tabloids said they were almost two decades before.
In 2019 he was spotted attending her 50th birthday bash, and the following year they were captured in a playful encounter at the SAG awards that had Team Jennifer supporters hopeful.
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Later that year the pair shared the screen for the first time in decades for a virtual table read of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, to raise money for Sean Penn’s nonprofit CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) and REFORM Alliance.
Though the reading even covered a steamy scene between the two characters they played, Aniston confirmed she and Pitt were only friends.
On Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show she said, “Brad and I are buddies, we’re friends. And we speak and there’s no oddness at all, except for everyone that probably watched it and was wanting there to be, or assumed there to be.”
Pitt, now 61, has been in a relationship with a Swiss jewellery professional in her 30s named Ines De Ramon for the past two years, with the pair only recently making their first public appearance.
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