How Jennifer Aniston Coped With Her 2005 Split From Brad Pitt

Jennifer Aniston's time as Rachel Green on "Friends" made her America's ultimate sweetheart for more than a decade. Her status only strengthened after she got together with Brad Pitt in 1998. Two years later, Aniston and Pitt tied the knot, per People, cementing their status as one of Hollywood's most beloved couples. A romance could not get much more perfect than what Pitt and Aniston had — until it all came crumbling down. Aniston announced in early 2005 that they were separating, according to People.

Aniston and Pitt's divorce was finalized that October, when Pitt had already been publicly linked to Angelina Jolie. When Doug Liman's "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" hit theaters a few months after Pitt and Aniston publicly went their separate ways, everyone in the whole world (and probably beyond) collectively raised their eyebrows. The flick had been shot the previous year, when Pitt and Aniston were very much still married, giving rise to speculation that Pitt had an extramarital affair with Jolie.

In May 2005, Jolie told Marie Claire (via AP News) that she was incapable of getting involved with a married man. But she admitted they developed feelings for each other then. "Not a lot of people get to see a movie where their parents fell in love," she told The New York Times, referring to her eagerness to watch "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" with her kids. The public quickly got over the scandal, transforming Brangelina into the ultimate "it" couple and leaving Aniston to lick her wounds. 

After ending her five-year marriage to Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston rented a bungalow in Malibu and pretty much stayed there. In those long months that followed her divorce, "The Morning Show" star used up pretty much all her energy fending off paparazzi on a quest to capitalize on her grief, she told Vanity Fair in 2005. A quick trip to get groceries also turned into a potential trigger, as tabloid after tabloid never tired of plastering her face — often next to Pitt and Angelina Jolie's — above made-up headlines.

So, Aniston retreated into her home. "[It's] an effort to take care of myself and my heart," she said. "I feel like I'm nesting. I love being home." That's not to say she became isolated from her old life and loved ones. "I have friends that come over. My girlfriends I've had for 20 years," she detailed. As difficult as that time was, Aniston learned a lot about herself and came to enjoy her alone time. "You're forced to re-discover yourself and take it to another level," she explained.

While learning to be along with herself was an important part of the process, Aniston also sought help from a therapist, she said on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in May 2022. The divorce coincided with the end of "Friends," offering Aniston an opportunity to start anew. "I just was like, 'You know what, guys? Let's make this a completely new chapter,'" she told DeGeneres.

Jennifer Aniston doesn't deny the end of her marriage to Brad Pitt was messy, disclosing to Vanity Fair she was just as shocked as the rest of us at his beach pictures with Angelina Jolie in Kenya just three months after their separation. "I can't say it was one of the highlights of my year," she said. "Who would deal with that and say, 'Isn't that sweet! That looks like fun!'? But sh** happens." Aniston worked through her grief and came out stronger on the other side — so much so that she has no ill feelings. 

"My marriages, they've been very successful, in [my] personal opinion," she told Elle in 2019, also referring to her second husband, Justin Theroux, from whom she separated in 2017. "And when they came to an end, it was a choice that was made because we chose to be happy, and sometimes happiness didn't exist within that arrangement anymore."

Over time, Aniston and Pitt rekindled their friendship, which has attracted plenty of attention in recent years. Who could forget the internet nearly going up in flames when the two hugged each other at the 2020 SAG Awards (pictured above)? But Aniston assured there is nothing romantic at all going on. "Brad and I are buddies, we're friends ... There's no oddness at all," she said on "The Howard Stern Show" in 2021, addressing their live table reading of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" in 2021.