I am Gay and lived in West Hollywood. I met Brad once, very briefly, before he became famous. He lived about three blocks from me, in a house with 4 or 5 other guys - and no, there were never any hints it was anything other than good (hetero) buddies as roommates, despite the fact many had hoped he was batting for our team.
My guess is that his experience in living in West Hollywood, one of the Gay meccas of the world, might have something to do with his current activism.
Then again, the cynic in me says, “Wow, what a great line to give your girlfriend.”
…nor are all African diamonds conflict diamonds. The best diamonds in the world (see: Cullinan) come from South Africa and Namibia.
While I’m here - some people are just assuming that not getting married is all Brad Pitt is doing to bring about gay marriage. Do those people know what charities he donates to, which congressman he writes to, etc?
Well, there are organizations you can donate money to. The ones that come to mind are Equality California and the Human Rights Campaign. How much actual benefit comes from each dollar donated, I couldn’t say.
I don’t recall Pitt having a problem with this when the question of marriage to Anniston came up. Then again, actors view marriage more as a Lease than as a Buy anyway.
Pitt and Aniston got married in 2000. I don’t remember gay marriage being a huge public issue in 2000. And as far as I can tell, these days, the vast majority of people see marriage as a Lease rather than a Buy.
Again, I don’t think that this is the real reason they’re not getting married. I also don’t think that the decision to not get married is exclusively Brad’s. Frankly, I’m inclined to think that the balance of power in that relationship is tilted just a bit in Jolie’s favor. I could be dead wrong, of course, not knowing either of them. But she seems like a woman unlikely to accept any crap.
No crap, eh? Are we talking the same Jolie once married to five-time married Billy Bob Thornton–the ultra-bipolar psychoboy of Hollywood? That relationship just screamed codependency and weirdness.
"Theirs was a very intense and very public marriage in which both frequently declared their intense passion for each other, referred almost constantly to their sex life (to NBC’s Brian Williams: “He’s about five blocks away, and I’m having trouble being with you” {2}), and famously wore vials of one another’s blood.
Ann [Curry]. And why do you wear this?
Angelina: Because it’s my husband’s blood.
Ann: Which says to you what? Which means what to you?
Angelina: Which is beautiful to me, you know? Some people like diamonds around their necks or things like that. I think that’s beautiful. And it makes me - it’s his life. {3}
Angelina stated in interviews that she had finally found happiness and safety with Billy Bob Thornton, and that her darker days were behind her. In the same interview, she said that with Thornton,
Angelina: For the first time I’ve been happy.
Ann: Why weren’t you safe and happy before?
Angelina: I don’t know. Because if I didn’t have my work, if I hadn’t met Billy, I absolutely would not be here today.
Gotta agree with you here. Took two years at the Medill School of Journalism (which is up there with Missouri and Columbia as the best journalism schools), and, while it was rigorous and exacting (misspell anyone’s name in an assignment, and you get an automatic “F,” for example), it was hardly rocket science. Journalism majors, on the whole, were a pretty fun and sharp bunch, but it’s not terribly difficult coursework. Time consuming at times, sure. But no more than any other major, in my opinion.
So, in your world, people can’t grow and change for the better? It seems to me that Jolie’s whole outlook changed when she visited Cambodia and found Maddox. After adopting him she grew up, discovered her previously-hidden maternal instincts, found a conscience, became an activist, and because of it totally alienated Thornton, who wanted his spooky-ookie, fun-loving, weird and wild partygirl wife back.
Pitt pretty much coasted through on his talent (yes, he does have talent), charm and good looks. He and Anniston seemed perfect together for the time they were together, but then he met Jolie, who showed him a socially-aware path he hadn’t previously been exposed to. That he’d always wanted kids and Maddox was a perfect kid and they got along well didn’t hurt. I don’t believe Jolie broke up his marriage, but I believe she was right there when it did break up and them getting together was the most natural thing in the world.
Maybe I’m too gullible. I don’t care. I’m usually a pretty cynical person, but when it comes to Pitt and Jolie, I believe totally in their union and social awareness.
And besides, how the heck do you know what kind of diamond ring, if any, Pitt has given Jolie?
There’s another version of the story that says Thorton didn’t want a new baby at the time and Jolie went ahead with it against his wishes. There were also rumors that he was opposed to it because of the general shadiness of many agencies working Cambodian adoptions. All Cambodian adoptions have stopped at the moment because corruption was so bad, and also, the head of the agency that Jolie used was busted for buying babies from poor women and passing them off as orphans. Article here.
Any concerns about Maddox possibly have living parents were brushed aside by Cambodian officials who said they investigated and found no wrongdoing, but possibly they were helped in the cleanup by Jolie’s 1.5 million dollar donation to the impoverished Cambodian government for a community development/nature conservation project. It wouldn’t be the first time that ever happened.
And I can’t say much about her maternal instincts when she has been calling the paps to photograph her and Maddox when they go out ever since Billy Bob left and she was trying to recover from the incestous overtones of her open-mouthed kiss with her brother at the Oscars. It’s basically a way to give herself a better image. She admitted as much to Forbes in an interview. There’s also another article that I can’t find now where a photographer talked about behind the scenes stuff involving paps and mentioned her habit of setting up photo ops with Maddox since he was 7 months old.
She has turned her children into celebrities themselves with this behaviour, even to the point where a photographer broke into his day care/school trying to get a picture. She continues these photo ops and yet last year she complained that the photographers upset Maddox and made him cry when she just wanted to take him on a ride on a carousel in Paris. She should have thought of that when he was 7 months old and she used him to reform her image.
It’s also been questioned whether she actually gives one-third of her income to charity as she repeatedly says she does, or whether it was just a one time thing, but I can’t find the information right at the moment, and I’m a little pressed for time here. So that’s my 2 cents, for now.
Even if she only gives one tenth of her yearly income to charity once, I bet its worth a hell of a lot more than you will give in your entire lifetime.
The only two that I know of where that happened were her pregnancy announcement where the money for the photos went to Wyclef Jean’s Haitian charity, and the Shiloh pictures which went to (I believe) some UN children’s charities in Africa. If she were doing that on a more regular basis, I’m sure she would announce it like she does most of her other charitable ventures. Other memorable events like Brad and Angie on the beach with Maddox in Africa, and Zahara’s first pictures where Angie took her to a mall just after she got out of the hospital were not for pay.
For whatever reasons, even for charity, I can’t agree that it’s in the best interest of the children to stir up so much interest in them by doing photo ops and even professional photo shoots for magazines.
I don’t know if you meant this to sound as hostile as it comes across, but it does seem a little harsh. Did I offend you?
To go ahead and answer- you will never know if that’s true or not because you won’t see me on television talking about it. And I don’t see what’s wrong with questioning the truth when it comes from someone highly motivated in self-interest, and publicly admitting to such when it comes to their charitable acts.
My apologies if I offended you. That wasn’t my intention.
Well, she wouldn’t be the first person to do a preemptive strike to keep her kids from being trampled by a herd of asshole photographers. Maybe that’s what she has in mind. At any rate, I don’t believe she’d attention whore herself at her childrens’ expense, and she gives away 1/3 of her income to charity, so I’m not going to find fault with her occasional toothy smile toward the camera. She’s the real deal as far as I can tell.
That’s not an unusual situation with third world adoptions. Vietnam was shut down (it may have reopened) with the same issue, and I think Thailand and parts of India. Russia has been on and off for fifteen years, mostly governement process changes though (can’t recall instances of someone saying “baby selling.”) However, its probably better for these kids - horrible that it is - that their parents sell them to adoption agencies because the other option is whorehouses and functional slavery.
The U.S. State Department is the agency that is responsible for closing or opening a country to international adoption and evaluating rumors of baby selling. If Jolie got Maddox when Cambodia was open, the State Department didn’t have enough information to shut them down.
And baby selling, while illegal here, is not unheard of, by any means. A few states allow adoptive parents to cover the living expenses of the birthmother during pregnancy. Its amazing how many birth mothers need fancy new cars as part of their living expenses. Its one of the dirty little secrets of the adoption world.
Angelina found Maddox in an orphange while she was in Cambodia. She didn’t contract with an agency and sit home stateside all comfy and wait for him to delivered. She found a child in a bad situation and wanted to get him out of it. Yes, she used an agency that turned out to be crooked, but so have many other, honest people seeking to adopt. Just because people seeking to adopt get duped by a crooked agency doesn’t mean they are dishonest themselves.
Also, Angelina did NOT kiss her brother in an “open-mouthed” kiss. That’s BS. Her mouth was closed. I don’t know how to post pictures, but I am sure you can find it.
It seems the lady has people who want to hate her no matter what. If you are looking for a reason to hate somebody, you can always find it.
