Could Brad Pitt’s diss of ex-wife Jennifer Aniston put female fans off his new film, “Moneyball”? Movie insiders wonder whether Pitt’s claim that he “wasn’t living an interesting life” with her, followed by his retraction, may have soured his popularity with women.
After he was quoted by Parade as saying, “I wasn’t living an interesting life myself. I think that my marriage had something to do with it,” Pitt issued a statement saying his comments were misinterpreted. He has since given many interviews to dispute the claim. He told “Today,” “I don’t want them to say anything bad like that to Jen. She’s a dear friend of mine.”
But despite Oscar buzz, some close to the Sony release are worried that Team Jen’s female following may be turned off by “Moneyball,” which opens Friday. It wasn’t clear in the first place if women would head out in droves to see a picture about the 2002 Oakland A’s and their general manager, Billy Beane.
“Interest is all male,” said a studio honcho, adding “They’ve tried to hide its subject matter, but it is what it is. They have a little older female interest. But younger females, forget it, that’s just not happening.”
When Extra posed the question, “Are you excited to see this film?,” on Facebook, angry comments were mostly sparked by Anistongate. “NOPE. I don’t like what he said about Jennifer … he went down a big notch!,” wrote one. Another raged, “Not after his stupid remarks about his marriage to Jennifer Aniston. I’ll never watch anything he is in again … LOSER.”
Meanwhile, Us Weekly reported that Aniston’s reps “went ballistic” and “angrily reached out to Pitt’s camp” to force an apology from him. She’s since made a point of being photographed smiling and enjoying herself with new beau Justin Theroux in New York this week.
A rep for Aniston said the “Us story for the most part is untrue. We all know that this is the working of the tabloid world to generate drama that doesn’t exist.”