Brad Pitt on “W” Magazine cover for February 2009 issue
January 7, 2009 by Sherry
It wasn’t too long ago that Brad Pitt shared his own personal photos of his family in the pages of W magazine for all of us to see. Intimate pictures of Angelina Jolie and their children made people swoon.
Now W has gone back to Brad again – he is on the cover of their February 2009 issue! The article starts off by detailing how Brad’s insane fame level is so high that his security needs – basement entrances and hidden service elevators – rival those of high-profile politicians. He tries so hard to live a normal life with Angie and the kids, but seriously, it must be so weird to be Brad Pitt. I particularly thought it was funny when the article mentions that he called room service to order some coffee and said that he was in the penthouse, “I think”. Not only did fans and guests not know where Brad was – BRAD didn’t know where Brad was!
The article goes on to talk about how Brad resisted the role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for quite some time before finally taking it on. They move next to personal topics, and apparently Brad was very open about Angelina Jolie and their children – he referred to the family as “this cuckoo’s nest that we got going on over there.”
And here’s something that fans have been waiting to hear for awhile – after all the media back and forth what with “Angelina said this about the relationship” and the “Jennifer Aniston said that about the Jolie-Pitt family” and the neverending circus, someone asked Brad about Jennifer’s “uncool” remark and he responded.
In November Jennifer Aniston told a journalist that an earlier comment from Jolie—that she and Pitt fell in love on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and so the film “might mean something more than we’d earlier allowed ourselves to believe”—was “uncool,” because Aniston and Pitt were still married during filming. “Listen, man, Jen is a sweetheart,” Pitt says, as if to settle this thing once and for all. “I think she got dragged into that one, and then there’s a second round to all of that Angie versus Jen. It’s so created.” Of his current relationship with Aniston, he says, “We still check in with each other. She was a big part of my life, and me hers. I don’t see how there cannot be [that]. That’s life, man. That’s life.”
The media has exaggerated things and kept it dragged out for so long? What a shock! Not. It sure sounds like a lot of drama has been created where there really is none. Of course, Jolie-Pitt haters will jump on that and have a field day, but hopefully they’ll continue to read the article long enough to get to the part where Brad equally defends Angelina:
A few sentences into the next topic, though, Pitt circles back to defend Jolie’s honor. “What people don’t understand is that we filmed [Mr. & Mrs. Smith] for a year,” he explains. “We were still filming after Jen and I split up. Even then it doesn’t mean that there was some kind of dastardly affair. There wasn’t. I’m very proud of the way that it was handled. It was respectful. [The film] will mean something to our kids. It will, that’s all.”
Hopefully that can give a bit of a rest to the constant cacaphony of comments that they got together while Jennifer was blissfully unaware that the marriage was ending.
Moving on from there, the article shifts to the good work that Brad and others with whom he aligns himself (like Angelina, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle) do for the world.
The article describes his well-known work with Make It Right as well as his contribution to the campaign against California’s Proposition 8. When asked about his fight for gay marriage rights, ever eloquent, Brad had this to say:
“People who are against gay marriage do not understand the very freedoms that they themselves are enjoying,” he argues. “What if someone said, ‘Sorry, no Christianity here? No Judaism. Certainly no Mormons.’ No one would stand for that, and I wouldn’t allow anyone to say that either. I’d fight them in the same way.”
There’s also a nice long and interesting section where the article discusses the changes that went into the script of Benjamin Button and how Brad didn’t want a movie role where he didn’t really do anything or have any effect on the scenes. It’s interesting to know that this movie was ten years in the making what with script and director changes.
Possibly the most hilarious part of the article is when Tilda Swinton is outed as having a perverted sense of humor, something that came about due to a bit of boredom:
During a particularly long shoot for a voiceover montage, their gamesmanship took, as Swinton puts it, “diabolically obscene turns,” such as when she arranged a prop carrot and two potatoes into a “vast vegetable genitalia,” and Pitt dared her to leave it in the shot. “Not a soul noticed,” adds Swinton. Sadly, the sculpture didn’t make final print; Swinton and Pitt later confessed to Fincher, which Swinton says she now regrets.
The article ends with Brad excusing himself because he needs to get back to Angelina, his kids, and his parents, all of whom were going to have dinner together. As for how he would get past the fans and paparazzi outside?
“This is my anonymity,” he says, brandishing the motorcycle helmet in an upraised hand before he breezes out the door. “With it, I’m just another a–hole on the streets.”
Image used with permission: Newscom
People Magazine June 2005
“People want answers about what’s happening…but I need to know what’s happening first,” Jolie told W West Coast bureau chief Christopher Bagley in the magazine’s current issue, which features photographer Steven Klein’s explosive pictorial essay of the two stars (see photographs on following pages). And in an interview with Diane Sawyer, which aired on ABC’s Primetime Live June 7, Pitt denied that Jolie was a “home wrecker” and implied that their relationship—Pitt’s divorce from Jennifer Aniston remains unfinalized—has yet to be defined. Asked if he and his costar are now embarking on a romance, he said, “There’s a lot still to, I guess, put into place…Listen, I don’t know what the future is just yet.” On the subject of Aniston, he was more direct, telling Sawyer that their split “doesn’t mean you lose the love,” though he admitted that “it’s difficult now as we determine what the next juncture is.”
Why does man kind always look for someone to blame, and not step up and except responsibility.
I am NOT talking about Brad, AJ or Jen; I am talking about YOU, that’s right YOU reading this and other sites!!! This is not their (Brad, AJ and Jen) problem they don’t have one they are all very happy, healthy, rich people that are living their lives. YOU need to take responsibility, this is YOUR fault for continuing to harbour hurt feelings for one or more of the people in the triangle. When did they ask you publicly or personally to do this? NEVER is the answer so STOP. Your opinions only end up hurting the very people YOU are trying to stand up for.
Thank you for allowing my rant for the month of January.
*Like that matters & Phoebe:
He did speak out about it at the beginning and in 2007. Just as succinctly as he did in the W interview.
But US weekly and other ent. outlets decided they wanted readers and viewers and instead pushed the bullsh%t that we have today. Which was generated/fueled by JA and her friends.
Phoebe
He did not know about the GQ interview at the W sit down. GQ snippets, JUST like Vogue (with Oprah), was released after his W interview was done. W would have asked him about THAT not the Vogue quote. After all it’s more juicy and disrespectful.
Checking in on someone does not mean they are friends speaking daily. Jen YOUR “Goddess” clarified this in her ever evolving storyline.
Having now read the GQ interview, mostly against my will, I am appalled at the things Jen had to say. Brad is a sweetheart for the way he addressed it, but please. She hates Angie’s guts and isn’t afraid to use that to her advantage, and I seriously doubt, again after having read the GQ interview, that Jen was “roped” into anything as far as her Vogue “uncool” comment.
But whatever. I love Brad for saying such level-headed things, and both Angie and Brad for never stooping to the level of mud-slinging. Good for them.
A few other comments I forgot to make last night: I think, when Brad said ‘[The film] will mean something to our kids. It will, that’s all.’”, he was indirectly clearing up Angie’s earlier comment about being excited for the kids to see MMS.
I also get the feeling from this interview that Brad doesn’t think Jen deserves to be criticized any more than Angie does. I think that was his way of saying, “Hey, she’s human just like everyone else, so please cut her some slack!”
I also get the feeling that, although Jen’s “uncool” comments about Angie bothered a lot of us, they didn’t/don’t really bother Brad and Angie that much at all. Even though the GQ comments hadn’t been made public at that point, I get the feeling that Brad and Angie are probably less upset about them than a lot of their fans are!
I think Brad feels that if, for example, Jen feels Angie’s comments were “uncool”, then that’s how she feels and she has a right to her feelings. As for Jen’s comment about their decision to sell Knox and Viv’s first pictures, I get the feeling that Brad (and Angie), feels like “Hey, she’s not required to agree with or like that decision!”
As for joking about the kids, I also doubt Brad and Angie took that as hard as most of their fans have. In fact, for all we know, Jen cleared that comment with Brad ahead of time (since Brad mentioned that they do still check in with each other from time to time).
Bottom line, I don’t think any of them deserve to have so much mud slung at them! I think people need to let the “triangle” issue drop, and stop being so critical of all three of the people involved!
Nebula, thank you for taking the time to go back in the past and find all these interviews. But in my opinion it will not stop some of the commenters that come to Pittwatch now to continue to argue that Brad cheated or that Brad doesn’t defend Angie. They will not stop because they enjoy getting some of us riled up. It was in the last week or two that someone who shall remain name less said that she was getting a kick out upsetting certain Pittwatchers. We are not children here, but some of us continue to argue when there is nothing to argue about. Again you have certainly proved that Brad has spoken out many times.
joliepittfanatic: perfect post i totally agree.
BlessBrangelina: Goddess? LOL…if you think she is then she is……yes badbad Jen she is sooo evil manipulating the press and living to make life miserable to Brangelina and the kids….and Brad has NO idea about what she said, yeah right. i hope you are not serious. Jen has the right to speak out just as Angie and Brad have. its sad that some people, like you BlessBrangelina (no offense please) can´t accept that.
-uncool…Brangelinas kids said the same..:)
-she wouldn´t have sold the pics…again: what the heck is wrong with that statement?
-why should Jen not be aloud to speak/joke about the kids? she never ever said anything that could be understood as negative (only by people who want to hear it).
IF Brad had a problem with Jen then he will handle it, he needs no fans to judge people they don´t know for him.
i hope its done now.
Another thing I forgot to point out earlier about JA’s recent comments to Vogue and GQ…We need to remember that, when we are reading an interview with a celeb, we are very rarely reading the exact words they said to the interviewer. Comments can get taken out of context, and the media often twists comments to make them sound different than the celeb meant them to. We have seen both of these things happen to Angie countless times!
I think Brad was being kind to Jennifer because that’s the kind of guy he is..He is a gentleman and is just trying to shut the rumor mill up. They(all 3 of them) are probably sooo sick of the questions about it all they want to puke.I think the press just keeps it going becuz it sells mags and that’s what they want$$.Love the photo’s he’s still sooo hot,he looks like a real man just alot better than most..most? not most ALL!!!
phoebe, right on! Most of us Jolie-Pitt fans often accuse people of blaming/criticising Angie, but the truth of the matter is, some people are just as bad about criticising/blaming JA.
I mean, saying she hates Angie’s guts? I think that’s an awfully mean thing to claim about someone, especially someone you don’t even know! I’m not saying JA is completely blameless, but she also doesn’t deserve all the venom that’s being spewed at her right now.
First of all, why is everyone pointing fingers at JA and giving the media a free pass? Again, JA is not blameless, but the media is partially to blame as well, for a couple different reasons.
1. They really have no business asking JA about Brad and Angie (especially questions such as how she feels about the decision to sell the baby pictures) or the other way around.
2. The media often twists people’s comments and/or leaves out words or phrases in interviews, thus resulting in an answer/comment that sounds very different from what the celeb actually said.
3. The media is just as guilty, if not more so, of still bringing up this “triangle” after very nearly four years. They have brought it up many times WITHOUT out any involement from JA!
Also, Angie has had her comments taken out of context many times (remember the “blob” contreversy?). Who’s to say the same isn’t true about JA?
All of that said, I agree with phoebe about JA’s GQ comments. Really, what was so bad about them? I mean, so what if she wouldn’t have chosen to sell the baby pictures? That’s her opinion, and she has a right to it! At first I was apalled by that comment I’ll admitt, but now I realize that in all likelyhood, it wasn’t meant as a critcism to the J-Ps.
As for joking about the kids, as I’ve said before, I truly don’t think she meant any harm by that. I think she was just trying to be funny and to make light of the situation, but unfournately, it didn’t get taken that way. That also probably wasn’t the best time to be making a joke like that, but people make mistakes sometimes!
Brad basically just said in his W interview that Jen vs. Angie is completely fabricated by the tabs, and given the fact that he actually KNOWS Jen (unlike the rest of us), I choose to believe him over the tabs and other people who don’t know her!
UNDER MOD- JA, the GQ comments, and the media.
I’ve have stayed away from commenting on Pittwatch for a long time. Because it is called Pittwatch I thought that meant Brad, Angie & the kids. I guess we are led to believe everything is SO good between the ex’s that they babysit. After the attacks on Angie, a single mother; I don’t care one bit what Aniston thinks. I’m SO done with her in this family.