Brad Pitt may be promoting his new movie F1 across the Atlantic, but back home in Los Angeles, an old narrative has returned to haunt him, with fresh headlines and familiar wounds.
Nearly two decades after his divorce from Jennifer Aniston and subsequent relationship with Angelina Jolie, the same persistent cheating rumor still clings to him like Hollywood smog.
It all goes back to Mr. & Mrs. Smith, aka the 2004 action-comedy where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie first met. Their onscreen chemistry was explosive, and fans wondered if sparks were flying off-screen too. By January 2005, Pitt and Aniston had publicly separated. By April, Pitt and Jolie were photographed on vacation in Kenya with Maddox, Jolie’s then-adopted son.
Though both denied infidelity, the timeline raised eyebrows, and speculation has never fully died down.
Even Aniston, in her 2006 Vanity Fair interview, seemed conflicted. “I choose to believe my husband,” she said, but added, “At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised by anything.”
Courteney Cox, Aniston’s close friend, later admitted to Vanity Fair that Pitt had confessed to feeling a strong emotional pull toward Jolie. That attraction, Cox explained, strained Pitt and Aniston’s marriage long before it ended.
Angelina Jolie’s Alleged Affair with Brad Pitt
Meanwhile, Jolie herself never minced words. In a 2006 Vogue profile, via People, she spoke candidly about the bond she and Pitt formed while filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith. “I think a few months in, I realized, ‘God, I can’t wait to get to work.’ (…) Anything we had to do with each other, we just found a lot of joy in it together and a lot of real teamwork,” she recalled.
These were comments that prompted Aniston to call them “uncool” and “inappropriate.” Even in 2008, Jennifer Aniston was still visibly stung by the idea that their romance began while she was still married to Brad Pitt.
Pitt, for his part, denied wrongdoing.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the set of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) pic.twitter.com/JiauE8KQD3
— Rogue Fashion (@rogue) June 6, 2025
In a 2005 interview with Diane Sawyer, he insisted Jolie had nothing to do with the breakup of his marriage. On Larry King Live in 2007, he clarified that his emotional involvement with Jolie began only after his marriage ended.
Still, the story has refused to die. Just this week, The List revisited the rumor in a new piece, reigniting public debate over whether Pitt cheated. It doesn’t help that personal drama continues to shadow the actor. As recently as June 25, burglars broke into Brad Pitt’s Los Feliz mansion while he was in London for his F1 premiere.
Police are investigating, and Pitt has yet to comment publicly. The timing only draws more media attention around him.
The Infamous ‘Brangelina’ Split
Adding to the swirl of press, Pitt appeared on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, discussing his emotional recovery after his 2016 split from Jolie. He described his experience with Alcoholics Anonymous as transformative.
“I was on my knees… I needed rebooting,” he said. That raw honesty only reinforces how deeply affected Pitt has been by the implosion of both marriages and the public fallout.
Complicating matters is his estrangement from some of his six children with Jolie.
this is what brad pitt’s child has to say about him by the way #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/aS1mX0pdt9
— lilian (@liliandaisies) January 11, 2023
In recent years, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara have distanced themselves from Pitt, even legally removing his last name. The tabloid narrative often paints Jolie as the driving force, but insiders suggest the family divide is more nuanced.
While Brad Pitt and Aniston have since shared warm, public reunions (including her 50th birthday in 2019 and the 2020 SAG Awards), the rumor that he betrayed her with Angelina Jolie still looms.
And no matter how many red carpets he walks or how candid Brad Pitt is in interviews, that narrative remains one Hollywood won’t let go of. And neither can several of his fans.
NEXT: Did Jennifer Aniston WARN Angelina Jolie About Brad Pitt’s Hidden Side?
