Misogynistic comments. Constant gossip. Full-on magazine covers. Here is the funny,
the bad and the ugly when it comes to romance rumors between Brad Pitt and these ladies.
The role that put Brad Pitt on the map was his turn as a dreamy
drifter who disrupts a road trip in the 1991 classic "Thelma & Louise."
He charms Geena Davis' titular character before robbing her and her bestie blind,
and if Jason Priestley is to be believed, Pitt Stole Davis' heart in real life as well.
In his 2014 autobiography "Jason Priestley: A Memoir," the "Beverly Hills,
90210" star revealed that he and Pitt were roommates before their careers
took off. He claimed that Pitt was having a clandestine fling with Davis, writing,
"He was always sneaking off to see her. He went to her place, of course: she was a major movie star,
recently split from Jeff Goldblum, who wouldn't have come near that duplex."
Priestley also wrote about some of his "Beverly Hills, 90210" co-stars in the book,
and one of them, Shannen Doherty, seemed to dispute the accuracy of his claims. She tweeted,
"Memoirs are so funny. The truth is rarely told, after all, they are trying to sell a book."
Priestley later told ET Canada that he was clearly the one being targeted in the tweet.
Davis didn't mention an off-screen romance with Pitt while talking about him on "The Graham Norton
Show" in 2022, but she did confess to being awestruck by the actor when she first met him.
"He's so charismatic and so incredibly talented
that I was like screwing up his audition, 'cause I was just like…"
The tabloids have tried to romantically link Sienna Miller to Brad Pitt multiple times.
In 2015, In Touch claimed that Pitt was smitten with Miller. At the time,
he was producing a movie Miller was starring in,
"The Lost City of Z" — and he was still married to Angelina Jolie. A source told the tabloid,
"Angelina yelled that she didn't want him near
Sienna. They barely talked to each other for the next day."
But during an appearance on "Sway in the Morning," Miller trashed this claim.
"So this is the truth about that is: Brad Pitt is producing the movie that I just wrapped,
but I didn't see him, he's not been to the set."
She also shared that she had only met Pitt in person two times.
The rumors returned in April 2017 after Pitt and Jolie announced their separation. This
time around, a witness told Page Six that Miller and Pitt got flirty during a dinner with a large
group celebrating the Los Angeles premiere of "The Lost City of Z." The source claimed,
"They were talking to each other all night."
When Page Six asked Miller about its own report, she said,
"I'm not going to even dignify it with a response. It's predictable and silly."
In June 2017, tabloids revived the rumors yet again, reporting that Pitt
and Miller were spotted getting cozy at the Glastonbury music festival. However,
a source close to Pitt claimed this, in fact, did not happen.
A 2016 Time editorial drew parallels between "Allied" and "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," the movie
that brought ill-fated spouses Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie together. The plots
of both involve espionage and a mistrustful married couple — and they both sparked rumors
of infidelity. It was Pitt who denied being unfaithful to his ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston,
when he and Jolie worked together on "Mr. & Mrs. Smith." In 2009, Pitt explained to W magazine,
"We were still filming after Jen and I split up."
But in 2016, it was Pitt's "Allied" co-star Marion Cotillard who found herself denying
claims that she had an affair with Pitt that led to Jolie filing for divorce.
That September, Page Six published a report claiming that Jolie had hired a private
investigator because she did not trust Pitt or Cotillard. The outlet quoted a source as saying,
"She felt that [Pitt] was fooling around with [Cotillard] on the set,
and it turns out, he was. And that was the final straw."
Cotillard denied the salacious story on Instagram, writing,
"I am not used to commenting on things like this nor taking them seriously but as this
situation is spiraling and affecting people I love, I have to speak up."
She revealed that she was still in a happy relationship with her longtime partner,
French actor Guillaume Canet — and that they were about to welcome their second child. She wrote,
"He is my love, my best friend, the only one that I need."
In 2016, Star magazine reported that a red-hot romance was brewing between Brad
Pitt and "Almost Famous" star Kate Hudson. The tabloid even claimed that the couple
was ready to cohabitate and that Kate's mom, Goldie Hawn, was thrilled about the
supposed relationship. Woman's Day also ran with the rumor, quoting a source as saying,
"They've become extremely close over the past few weeks, following several secret meet-ups."
Shock jock Howard Stern did his part to help perpetuate the Pitt gossip when he spoke to
Hudson about her dating life on "The Howard Stern Show." They covered everything from her
early career and family life until landing on the subject of romance. While pressing her to
describe her ideal guy appearance-wise, he threw out Pitt's name, and Hudson replied,
"Yes, I think Brad is very, very handsome."
Kate's brother, Oliver Hudson, had some fun with the Star story on Instagram. He shared
a photo of the tabloid's cover and concocted his own wild contributions to its narrative, giving
Goldie and her longtime partner, Kurt Russell, their own hilarious roles to play. He wrote,
"My mom's overtly flirting with him! Shes wearing these little nighties around the house
now?! But ALL DAY!! Like at 3pm! And Pa just keeps saying 'All right!! It's Brad Pitt!!'"
Hudson addressed the dating rumors herself when
she appeared on "Watch What Happens Live" in late 2017.
"I hadn't actually seen [Pitt] in, like, four years. It was kind of an
awesome rumor. I kind of liked it. I was like, 'Okay, fine. We're having twins!'"
In 2017, Brad Pitt and "X-Men: Apocalypse" star Jennifer Lawrence were thrown together
by a glossy, gossipy matchmaker. According to The Sun, a source told Star magazine,
"Brad has had his eye on Jennifer for years. [...] Brad and Jennifer have
been enjoying lots of late nights together. There's an intense connection between them!"
But while the pair might have looked good in ink in the minds of imaginative tabloid editors,
sources in Pitt's camp told The Sun that Tyler Durden and Katniss Everdeen had not
teamed up to become a formidable fanfiction couple brought to life.
Lawrence hilariously and reluctantly killed the romance rumor herself when
she appeared on "Watch What Happens Live" in 2018.
"No! I've met him once in like 2013, so it was very random. But,
I also wasn't like, in a huge hurry to like debunk it!"
During a 2014 appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," Lawrence opened up about how exactly she
met Pitt. She explained that her best friend, Laura, had extracted a promise from her to
bring Laura to the Oscars as her date if she got nominated for a third Oscar. Lawrence recalled,
"We ran into Brad Pitt and she was like, 'Get Brad Pitt over here.' And
I was like 'I can't do that!' And was she was like 'Yes, you can!'"
She didn't think this was within her power, but Laura convinced her to shoot her shot.
"So I just went, 'Hey Brad Pitt! Hey Brad Pitt!' And then he,
like, came over. He smelled like sandalwood, it was unbelievable."
Actors who work together are easy targets for tall tabloid tales,
but when Brad Pitt produced a TV series Ella Purnell starred in, she
came with a film credit that made her an irresistible fictional match for Pitt.
When Purnell was 17, she auditioned for the princess role in the 2014 Disney movie
"Maleficent." Instead, she got cast as the younger version of Angelina Jolie's misunderstood dark
fairy. Purnell was 21 when In Touch cast its own version of a dark curse on the young actor
by spinning a story about how she bewitched Pitt. The tabloid claimed that the smitten Pitt used his
power as a producer to cast Purnell as the lead in the Starz drama "Sweetbitter." A source revealed,
"Ella is incredibly flattered by all the attention she's getting from Brad."
Meanwhile, as the tabloids do, Jolie got the evil queen treatment. The insider added,
"She absolutely hates that Brad is cavorting with someone who
played the teenage version of her in a film."
In a 2022 interview with the Independent,
Purnell revealed that she initially joked about the rumors with her friends,
finding them hilarious. But all of that changed when she saw how the public was reacting to them.
"I read all the comments saying, 'She's a little s—. She's a gold-digger. She wants to get famous.
She's a homewrecker.' Not one person was saying, 'Shame on Brad for dating practically a child.'"
Purnell revealed that she expressed
regret over not calling out this misogynistic behavior at the time.
In 2019, The Sun claimed that Charlize Theron had fallen for Brad Pitt after
meeting the actor through her ex, Sean Penn. According to the tabloid,
an eyewitness spotted the pair getting cozy at the Chateau Marmont. The source said,
"They were ridiculously touchy-feely and his arm was around her back. At one point
he winked at her. Brad seemed in a really good place — they both looked really happy."
The insider also claimed that the pair had been involved in a month-long love
affair that hadn't become serious enough for Pitt to introduce Theron to his kids.
While the two had recently spent some time together filming a Breitling watch ad,
a source told ET that the actors had not become romantically involved. The insider dished,
"Brad and Charlize have known each other for years and recently became even better
friends after working together. They enjoy each other's company and connect on many levels."
The insider also claimed that Pitt did not want
his next serious relationship to be with a fellow actor.
Theron joked about the dating rumors when she appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
The actor and her "Bombshell" co-stars, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie, were playing a game
called "Who Would Charlize Rather?" when they were asked to choose between Pitt and
Michael B. Jordan. After Kidman revealed that she never dated Pitt, Theron said,
"But I apparently did. I had an entire relationship that I didn't even know about."
"Hi Aniston." "Hi Pitt."
"How you doin'?" "Good honey,
how are you doin'?" "I'm alright."
Could this mean the return of one of the most iconic Hollywood relationships? Hm,
maybe not. Some Braniston fans will always hold out hope that Jennifer Aniston and Brad
Pitt will become the next Bennifer 2.0. Their reunion would give celebrity gossip enthusiasts
another nostalgia-induced serotonin overload, but the couple's most dedicated shippers have
had to settle for far-fetched fiction and microdoses of the exes together. In early 2019,
the tabloid New Idea published a wild rumor that Aniston and Pitt had not simply reconnected but
had also honeymooned in Paris — which was obviously nonsense. New Idea had previously
penned a tall tale so absurd that Aniston's rep eventually addressed it, telling the Express,
"This is just another complete fabrication and has no relationship to reality."
The rumor? That Pitt and Angelina Jolie's daughter,
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, wanted to start calling Aniston "mommy."
Brad chatted with ET about his ex and the possibility of the pair
posing for a photo together at the 2020 Golden Globes.
"I'll run into Jen, she's a good friend. Yeah."
Days later, the exes tried to break the internet by being photographed touching
each other at the SAG Awards. Aniston spoke about the reaction
to their awards season interactions in an interview with ET. She said,
"It's hysterical. But what else are they going to talk about?"
They may never get back together, but fans can always rewatch Braniston's steamy 2020
"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" table reading.
"Hi Brad.
You know how cute I always thought you were. I think you're so sexy. Will you come to me?"
In November 2019, In Touch reported that Brad Pitt had possibly found what he
was searching for in "Search Party" star Alia Shawkat. An insider said,
"Brad's telling friends she's one of the most interesting women he's met in L.A. in a very
long while. [...] He really likes spending time with Alia. He's excited to fall in love again."
As the tabloid noted, this was one of the instances where the parties involved had
actually been seen together. Photos of Shawkat and Pitt admiring an art
exhibit at the Wilding Cran Gallery were published, while other tabloids shared
pictures of the actors at the Hollywood Bowl. However, Pitt was photographed chatting with
a different woman while they watched Kanye West's opera, "Nebuchadnezzar."
In December 2019, Pitt attempted to dispel all speculation about
his love life in one fell swoop. He told The New York Times Magazine,
"I don't know how many women they've said I've
been dating the last two or three years, and none of it's true."
But in March 2020, he and Shawkat were papped grabbing a bite at an In-N-Out,
so his effort was in vain. Shawkat addressed the dating rumors herself
in a June 2020 interview with Vulture. She said,
"We're not dating. We're just friends."
She later told The New Yorker that she spoke to Pitt about the gossip, recalling,
"He was, like, 'I'm sorry. It happens. If you hang out with me,
it happens.' He had no awareness of it at all."
In 2021, two women earned the boast-worthy distinction of having to deny dating Brad
Pitt. While "Extra" reporter Renée Bargh was interviewing Pitt at the 2020 SAG Awards,
she reminded him of how he'd joked that people automatically assume he's dating
any woman he's ever spotted with, which prompted Pitt to stand beside Bargh and
raise his eyebrows suggestively. New Idea referenced the interview months later when
it claimed that Pitt and Bargh were FaceTiming each other and occasionally hanging out in person.
Bargh addressed the dating rumors in a 2021 interview with PopSugar,
"It's absolutely hilarious that those even came about and that people actually believed them."
The gossip was so widespread that it started coming up when
she was getting to know actual romantic prospects. She said,
"If I ever go on a date with a guy, they're like, 'Cool,
you know, I just feel weird because I can't compare to Brad Pitt!'"
But by the following September, she had found Mr. Right and gotten pregnant.
"The United States vs. Billie Holiday" star Andra Day is yet another woman
who was surprised to find herself on the list of Pitt's rumored romantic conquests.
"Was it weird waking up to wake up and look and everyone is saying you're dating Brad
Pitt. Oh my gosh, child. Especially because we've never met! So I was like 'Oh, alright'"
Gossip mags reported that Day and Pitt got flirty at the Academy Awards and
even exchanged phone numbers. However, Day later told ET,
"We're not dating. We don't even know each other. But it's so funny. It is
hilarious. Thin air. It was thin air. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Somebody was bored that day."
She did add that she liked his work, saying,
"He's great though. Super talented, wonderful."
In September 2022, it was reported that model Emily Ratajkowski was potentially
rebounding from her divorce from Sebastian Bear-McClard by getting to know Brad Pitt on
the down-low. Sources revealed that Pitt was also seeing other people,
a sure sign that he and Ratajkowski were not yet serious. Its source told Us Weekly,
"Brad and Emily have been hanging out as friends. [...] But they like each
other and are excited to see where things go."
People, meanwhile, reported that the pair first bonded over their
appreciation for art after meeting through a mutual friend. Another insider dished,
"They have a lot to talk about and always have a great time when they hang out."
The source ET spoke to pointed out that Ratajkowski was recently divorced and
Pitt was embroiled in more than one messy legal battle with his ex, Angelina Jolie,
so they both were in a place where they were not really ready for something serious. Ratajkowski
seemed to confirm this when she took a blowtorch to the flurry of romance reports by telling
Variety that she was relishing her new life as a single woman. She mentioned enjoying the
freedom of not being worried about how people perceive her. To shut down the Pitt romance
rumors for good in November 2022, Ratajkowski started to spend a lot of time out in public
with none other than Pete Davidson, which did become the talk on the social media sphere.
In January 2022, The Sun reported that Brad Pitt had found a love interest close to home:
Swedish singer Lykke Li. The outlet revealed that Li lives in the same neighborhood as Pitt,
making it much easier for the pair to keep their supposed romance under wraps. A source said,
"It's worked out perfectly for Brad, to have someone he likes living so close."
However, another insider asserted that the Hollywood
actor and singer-songwriter were just friends.
A People report also claimed that this was another case of one of Pitt's female friends
being unwittingly cast as his love interest by the tabloids. The magazine's source explained
that Li is part of a friendly clan of creatives whom Pitt befriended. They added that "Arrested
Development" star Alia Shawkat is also a part of the artistic friend group.
According to a rumor shared by the celeb gossip account Deuxmoi, former "Full House"
star Mary-Kate Olsen has also been spied chilling with Pitt and his pals. The anonymous tip read,
"They all had a dinner party at MK's and Brad was there and apparently was hanging out a
lot with MK, chain smoking cigs & weed and just having a good time hanging out with each other."
The writer claimed that this made the atmosphere tense because Li was also there.