More than two decades after guest starring on his then-wife Jennifer Aniston’s show Friends, Brad Pitt is thrilled to have reconnected with her costar Courteney Cox and now he’s planning double dates with his girlfriend Ines De Ramon and her beau Johnny McDaid – leaving Courteney’s BFF Jennifer out in the cold, a source exclusively tells In Touch.
“Brad and Courteney became very close friends when he was married to Jen, they used to hang out all the time,” the source says. “That stopped once he left Jen for Angelina, but the last few years, they’ve picked up right where they left off.”
The Wolfs actor, 60, began dating Jen in 1998. They tied the knot in 2000 and were married until their highly publicized divorce in 2005, which Brad allegedly sparked by falling for his Mr. & Mrs. Smith costar and now-ex wife Angelina Jolie, 49.
While Jen would eventually move on with her own now-ex husband Justin Theroux, the source says Courteney, 60, may have rubbed some dirt in her bestie’s eye by getting back on friendly terms with the iconic heartthrob, as the two were pictured together smiling and chatting at the Rock4EB fundraiser on September 21.
“Courteney is respectful, she wouldn’t have started the friendship up again without Jen’s blessing. Once Brad and Jen reconnected after his divorce from Angelina, she gave all her close friends the greenlight to let him back into their lives.”
“But that doesn’t mean this hasn’t left Jen feeling very hurt and betrayed. The problem now is that Brad is on this mission to have double dates.”
The Friends alum met her Snow Patrol member boyfriend at a house party she hosted in 2013. Fawning over her man, she told People in January 2022 that she’s “never met someone more patient.”
“He’s a great advice-giver. I love his heart, his intentions. His morals. He’s extremely talented and obviously musical, but he’s a poet and a writer. He’s just so smart, and I find that really sexy. And then he is gorgeous,” she said of Johnny, 48.
The Irish musician is equally as reverent of his A-lister girlfriend and close with her daughter, Coco, with whom she shares with ex husband David Arquette.
“She’s my best friend,” Johnny said. “She’s my partner, in everything. When I write her poems, it’s just an extension of how I feel every second anyway.”
Brad also seemed to fall for the sensitive musician – in his own bromantic way – with the source saying the Troy actor has “gotten to know Johnny and really bonded with him and of course he’s really fond of Courteney.”
But Jen isn’t as cool with the foursome’s new friendship as she previously thought she’d be when she gave all her friends the go-head to start hanging out with Brad again.
“It’s a very awkward situation because Courteney can’t order Johnny not to hang out with him or make these dinner plans, and Jen’s too proud to put her foot down.”
“She’s most angry at Brad for proving yet again that he’s got zero sensitivity or awareness, but Courteney isn’t off the hook either.”