Jennifer Aniston To Serve As Character Witness in Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Custody Trial?
Jean-Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images, Amy Sussman/Getty Images, Tiziana Fabi/Getty Images
A tabloid claims Jennifer Aniston will be serving as a character witness in Brad Pitt’s custody trial with Angelina Jolie. Mediaite investigated the claim and we can set the record straight.
Pitt and Jolie, who split in 2016, are scheduled to go to trial in October to settle their ongoing child custody battle. The situation became even more complicated last month when the actress asked for the removal of Judge John W. Ouderkirk from their divorce case, saying she was unaware the judge had “ongoing business and professional relationships” with Pitt’s attorneys, who are working with Ouderkirk on other divorce cases. Pitt’s legal team dismissed his ex’s protestation as “a thinly-veiled attempt by Jolie to delay the adjudication of long-pending custody issues in this case.”
The cover story of the latest issue of Woman’s Day Australia purports that the actor is “prepared to play dirty himself” by involving his first wife, Aniston, in the proceedings. “Brad has asked her to be a character witness for him, and she was only too happy to agree,” an unidentified source tells the magazine. “She pledged to write him a glowing affidavit and even take the stand if need be.”
Woman’s Day Australia
The tabloid’s unknown source adds, “It’s no coincidence that just after Ange launched her surprise attack on the judge, Brad announced he’d be joining Jen in an online table read [for Fast Times at Ridgemont High].” However, Pitt didn’t personally announce his involvement in the star-studded table read, which also includes Julia Roberts, Matthew McConaughey, Jimmy Kimmel and Shia LaBeouf, to name a few.
The news that Pitt would be joining his ex-wife at the table read was reported by several Hollywood trade publications. We’re also failing to see a connection between the custody trial and the online table read, which is being held to raise money for Sean Penn’s emergency relief nonprofit CORE. The charitable reunion between the exes sounds like a coincidence to us.
The tabloid’s story is also based on the word of an anonymous source, but Aniston’s spokesperson tells Mediaite on the record that it’s a “fabrication.” An individual in Pitt’s inner circle, speaking on background, also said the Woman’s Day article is “made up.” It’s highly implausible that an Australian tabloid scored such a major scoop about a high-profile American court case. However, it’s the only outlet in the world that’s selling this story.
Meanwhile, there’s no indication that Aniston has ever observed Pitt with his six children, so we’re not sure she’d make for a particularly credible character witness in his custody trial. In reality, Woman’s Day Australia seems to have concocted a lame way to drag the actress into her ex-husband’s custody case.
