It's the biggest celeb love triangle of all time. Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Jennifer Aniston are now three names that just fall out of our mouths in a set of three. Neither women are currently with Brad, but we're still getting headlines like "Baby Joy At Last." That was New Idea's October 2018 headline – no, the media is still not done suggesting that Brad and Jen are having a baby.
Let's face it, the whole secret relationship is a giant mess. Most Hollywood couples manage to call it quits and move on. Chris Pratt and Anna Faris? It's over. Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber? Gone their separate ways. Something about Jen, Brad, and Ange just seems to be trapped in the world's biggest ever hamster wheel, and it just keeps spinning.
In a nutshell, here's how it went. Brad and Jen met on a blind date in 1998. We got the golden couple we'd always wanted, they got married, and we thought they were all set. Along comes Angelina Jolie in 2005 and Brad can't resist her. Jen and Brad split and our favorite Hollywood hunk embarks with the world's "Most Beautiful Woman." 12 years, one marriage, and 6 kids later, we somehow reach the point where a middle-aged Brad is staring down GQ magazine's lens looking completely broken.
Brad is now 53 years old. Angelina is 42. Jen is 49. The battle isn't over yet. We were either #TeamJen or #TeamAnge back then, and we're still one or the other. Here are 10 photos for those who stood by Jen (plus 10 who always loved Angelina).
20 Team Jen: The Vein Has Spoken
For #TeamJen, 2005 was a year of shock. Mr & Mrs Smith might have been an awesome movie, but Jen's fans weren't digging the on-set activity. With assistants reporting flirtatious texts and Brad and Ange being "up to no good" in their trailers, #TeamJen were bleeding inside.
Remember Monica's forehead vein in Friends? "The vein has spoken!" Angelina's vein even has its own Facebook page.
Vanity Fair has voted Angelina Jolie "The Most Beautiful Woman In The World." Then again, even beauty queens have their flaws. Angelina Jolie is one of those women with the "forehead vein." With Angelina, the vein has spoken.
19 Team Ange: That Running Photo
#TeamAnge were all over this pic. When we're out to throw shade on a celeb, their weight is the first thing we'll go for. It's pretty cruel, pretty childish, but we do it anyway. Jen piled on the pounds for the 2014 movie, Cake (which amazingly, has nothing to do with the food).
"Oh Jen, did you overdo the honeymoon dinners?" was The Daily Mail's headline for this pic. Jen was working out in Bora Bora when she was spotted looking a little rounder than usual. "Like, hello, carbonara. It's a killer," Jen said about Justin Theroux's cooking. "But it's all worth it."
18 Team Jen: Everything About This
Jen is still regarded as having one of the best physiques in Hollywood. Men might objectify Jen's legs, but girls are crushing on this actress' balanced lifestyle, zen philosophies, and hardcore muscle. Jen is the yoga queen, but we've seen enough running shots to know that Jen is a #CardioBoss.
"I feel really beautiful when I finish a great workout." Vegetable lasagne, frozen grapes, and tuna salads are Jen's diet secrets.
"Eat as much organic fruit and vegetables as you can, keep sugar [intake] low, drinks tons and tons of water, and get good sleep." Jen has been the face of Smartwater for over a decade. It isn't rocket science why.
17 Team Ange: Buttercup Yellow Beauty
For Angelina Jolie, being considered "beautiful" was always weird. "I don't think about beauty. I wake up and I want to be a smarter person, that's my focus." In 2007, Angelina hit the Cannes Film Festival's red carpet for one of her most beautiful looks to date.
Buttercup yellows, signature curls, and those tattoos on show were 100% Angelina. Remember, that this girl is a rebel – wearing vials of her husband's own blood is how Angelina rolls, but the Billy Bob Thornton days were over here. Jen's red carpet looks? She has been criticized for wearing less-than-classy minidresses in her late 40s.
16 Team Jen: Can We Blame Ross?
This guy didn't fall for Rachel Green during the first episode. Ross Geller was in love with Rachel back in high school. He fell for Rachel's looks and her personality. "No uterus, no opinion" wasn't a phrase that Ross ever predicted would become a reality, but it did.
"Ross, I am a human doodle!" Rachel was Ross' "lobster" from day one.
"Just so you know, it's not that common, it doesn't happen to every guy, and it is a big deal" — lines that only Jennifer Aniston could pull off. Ross took a practice run at marriage with Rachel after the whole Vegas wedding, but Rachel was 100% his "lobster."
15 Team Ange: Caught Off-Guard, But Still Looks Perfect
"I see myself as a mom first." Angelina might have a glittering A-List career, but she seems to care about one thing the most – making the world a better place. #TeamJen always called "attention seeker" on this one, but credit where it's due – Angelina is raising 6 kids (plus single-handedly supporting half of Africa on her own).
"The world can like me, hate me or fall apart around me and at least I wake up with my kids and I'm happy." Ange had 3 biological children with Brad, plus her 3 adopted kids. Here she is in a toddler standoff with Pax. #NoMakeup #StillPerfect
14 Team Jen: #StreetStyleGoals
#Goals on a whole other level. "What am I doing wrong?" seems to be where we're left – after all, we do own a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "The trick to T-shirts is that I usually tailor them. Which is silly, but it works," Jen says. Thing is, half the time, Jen isn't even trying.
"I pretty much have my uniform. A boyfriend jean, a wedge, a tank top. I'm pretty basic with my fashion," says Jen.
The indisputable street style queen, Jen has been out-doing stars half her age with...what seems like nothing. Bootcut or flared jeans, simple jackets, cute tees. So much to crush on.
13 Team Ange: #RebelGirlGoals
Angelina hands-down wins for being the original rebel child. Before doing the biggest 180 we've ever seen, Angelina was spending the '90s and 2000s in one leather-clad, tattoo-flaunting rollercoaster of bag girl vibes – and the guys were all over it.
"I'm still a bad girl, " Ange said in 2011. I still have that side to me. It's just in place now." Looking back on the early days of grunge attitudes, blood vials, and tongues out, Ange reflected: "You want to be free. It's that need to find a full voice, to push open the walls around you." Brad loved it, we loved it, and Ange was 100% the OG.
12 Team Jen: When We Wished This Was Real
This is quite possibly the best Friends scene ever. Nobody jumps to "wedding dresses" as the solution to feeling kind of blue. Then again, these three never went conventional with their inspiration.
"Are you going to set Ross up with someone? Does she already have a wedding dress?"
By this point in Friends, Phoebe was pregnant with the triplets. Monica was feeling beyond depressed at still not having achieved her life goals– but she did have Emily's wedding gown. Of course, Rachel has to go and mess it up royally by opening the door to an unsure Joshua with an "I do!"
11 Team Ange: Making The Video Game Real
With Alicia Vikander revamping the character, Angelina's Lara Croft days feel like an era ago — but what an era. Up until Ange, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was a video game that mostly targeted teenage boys (and the men who just couldn't quit). This is the girl who made every guy put the Nintendo down.
"[Lara Croft] was a side of myself that I didn't think was in me," Ange said about the role. The tiny shorts didn't leave her the most comfortable to start with, but this girl knows how to own a role. "Standing at the edge of a waterfall in Cambodia – I was so happy."
10 Team Jen: "I'm Just Fine"
With enough heartbreak to last a lifetime, we're still amazed how Jen keeps going – she literally is The Little Engine That Could. In August 2018, Jen fronted In Style with a headline that made it all clear: "Jennifer Aniston Is Just Fine." Jen has been jerked around a fair amount.
It didn't work out with Brad. It didn't work out with Justin. Vince Vaughn and John Mayer seemed fun while they lasted, but they didn't make Jen happy. "Let's see. I'll just Google myself and find out. Oh, look! I'm having a $100,000 revenge makeover!" Jen is doing just fine.
9 Team Ange: "Different Is Good"
When Ange won her Best Villain award for Maleficient, she let the world know a thing or two about being different – it isn't what you'd expect. "I was told that I was different, and I felt out of place, and too loud, too full of fire, never good at sitting still, never good at fitting in." Ange wasn't born to fit in.
"When other little girls wanted to be ballet dancers, I kind of wanted to be a vampire," Ange reflected.
That's more like it. Ange believes that causing a little trouble is "good for you." Well, there's a limit (especially when it comes to other peoples' marriages), but the attitude is dope.
8 Team Jen: "It's Not Really Gambling When You Never Lose"
Talk about #AttitudeGoals. Jen's ability to milk the positive out of every possible situation is all kinds of inspiration. It's kind of funny when you think about it. Remember that Friends episode when Chandler was still in the "sweatpants" phase? He asked Rachel: "So I'm not going to lose her? "Rachel: "Awww, no, you're not a complete loser." Chandler: "I said, I'm not going to lose her?"
Jen has played the Hollywood game. She hasn't always won. "Is [Brad] the love of my life? I think you're always sort of wondering," she said in 2003. She moved past Brad. She moved past Justin. Jen will never fully lose.
7 Team Ange: "I Always Play Women I Would Date"
And don't forget that this girl gets paid exactly what she's worth. Commanding up to $20 million per movie is something that we see with Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone. Few actresses in their 40s are still hitting the mark – Angelina most definitely does.
"I always play women I would date," Angelina has said. Let's see: a stunt-pulling heroine in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. A double agent in Salt. A bonafide nutcase in Girl, Interrupted. Ange has always been open about her attraction to both men and women – she was in a relationship with the model, Jenny Shimizu. Somehow, that statement just made Ange sound more empowering.
6 Team Jen: Making "We Were On A Break" An Actual Phrase
There literally isn't a TV phrase that's more iconic. 1994 was the year that Ross and Rachel exploded onto our screens. 2004 was the year that they still (kind of) weren't done. 10 whole years of "on again," off again," and everything in between saw these two throw us every #RelationshipProblem out there.
"We were on a break!" "Uh, uh....fine by me!" Ross and Rachel quotes just don't get old.
By the time Friends was wrapping up, Ross' son, Ben was even saying it: "You and mommy were on a break." We learned that the wrong name can be said at the altar. We learned that "they should write it on the box!" Thanks, Jen.
5 Team Ange: Vintage Comeback
In 2010, Angelina ditched the blazing guns and stunt pulling for a role that 100% suited Vanity Fair's "Most Beautiful Woman In The World." The Tourist saw Ange star alongside Johnny Depp (without stealing him). The movie was a beautiful, elegant, and mysterious adventure that definitely had a plot, but people were just gawking at this woman right through it.
"I don't see myself as beautiful, because I can see a lot of flaws." Angelina might continue to top beauty lists at the age of 42, but she isn't seeing what we are. "People have really odd opinions," she concluded.
4 Team Jen: An "Idol" To This Girl
Yes. Selena Gomez looks up to Jennifer Aniston. 144 million followers may make this girl the most-followed person on Instagram, but even Selena knows that Jen is the real OG. "I was shaking! I ran into Jennifer in the bathroom and she goes, 'Hi!' My legs started to shake and I ran," Selena told E! about meeting Jen.
"The whole reason I started my show and mannerisms, they were after Jennifer Aniston," Selena has said.
Selena is worshipped by hundreds of millions of people. The scrunched-up cutie that even Justin Bieber couldn't resist doesn't look up to Kim Kardashian. She looks up to Jen.
3 Team Ange: A Beacon Of Hope
Celebs mostly go down the easy route — they sign a big fat cheque, tweet about it, and they've got their "charitable cred." Not Angelina. It's hard to think of a Hollywood star who has dedicated herself to charitable causes quite like Angelina has.
"I think we all want justice and equality, a chance for a life with meaning. All of us would like to believe that if we were in a bad situation, someone would help us."
Now one of the longest-standing UN ambassadors, Ange has visited some of the most poverty-stricken and dangerous parts of the world – not for the cameras.
2 Team Jen: The Original American Sweetheart
There just isn't one like her. Jennifer Aniston burst onto our screens in 1994, and she's been America's sweetheart ever since. Ariana Grande may be the rising sweetheart, but this girl was the original deal. We stood by her with the whole Brad thing, we ached when it didn't work out with Justin, but we still see that twinkle.
"What Angelina did was really uncool." Jen is a sweetheart that can speak for herself, though.
"There was stuff printed that was definitely from a time when I was unaware it was happening," Jen told The Daily Mail about the world's coverage of Brad and Ange's relationship.
1 Team Ange: The Million-Dollar Smile
Yup, there are actual scientists out there trying to crack the secret behind Angelina's smile. Phuong Nguyen, a Philadelphia surgeon clarified Ange's pearly whites as "The Mona Lisa of Smiles." Angelina has the piercing gaze, but it's her smile that won over the world. For a woman who has been through so much, Ange still wins the moment she breaks into a smile.
You're either #TeamAnge or #Team Jen. Hit share on Facebook and gather up the troops. Fair warning, though. You might unleash the world's biggest argument, but let's face it. We're still not done. Make sure any Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie fan you know sees this.
Sources: SheKnows, The Daily Mail, InStyle, DirectChoice, Yahoo, People.
