There are all sorts of tabloids stories about the alleged Aniston/Cooper/Zellweger triangle and Aniston/Cooper/Butler triangles. It’s hard to tell if the reports have any basis in truth at all or if the gossip rags are just filling in the blanks after witnessing some most likely orchestrated dates between Bradley Cooper and two well known actresses who have helped raise his profile considerably.

The latest from the National Enquirer has Jennifer Aniston “devastated” that Bradley Cooper kind of dumped her to the press by saying she was “simply a friend.” The story goes that she called him up to figure out what he meant by that and ended up getting dumped over the phone:

Actress Jennifer Aniston rarely responds to even the most ridiculous romance gossip, which might explain why she didn’t expect her once-rumored beau, Bradley Cooper, to deny their relationship. According to the National Enquirer, Cooper’s recent comments left his “He’s Just Not That Into You” co-star reeling.

“Jennifer was devastated when Bradley told reporters in Paris that she was ‘just a friend’ and denied they had any romantic involvement,” an insider told the National Enquirer. “It makes her look desperate — which is the one thing she dreads coming across more than anything else.”

At first, Aniston allegedly assumed Cooper’s public stance was merely an attempt to keep their relationship private, but the source explained that the actress soon learned otherwise.

“When (Aniston) confronted (Cooper) about it, he took the opportunity to let her down gently and say he only wanted to be friends,” the source revealed. “It was a huge embarrassment for Jennifer — now she feels used and upset — her confidence has taken yet another knock and she’s back at square one in terms of dating.”

Which really isn’t so bad, as long as “square one” isn’t code for “round three” with revolving-door-ex John Mayer.

[From MSNBC’s The Scoop]

Given that this news isn’t coming out until now, over two weeks since Cooper made that “friends” statement and then stepped out with Renee Zellweger, it has some credibility. At the same time, it’s possible that the tabloids are rehashing this because Aniston’s love life sells copies and they don’t want to let go of the Cooper story. The whole thing smacks of the “poor Jen” angle that we’ve come to expect. I trust The National Enquirer with more serious coverage, but with these “insider” stories they probably aren’t above embellishing. We also heard from the Enquirer that Aniston gave Cooper a “relationship timeline” that included a pregnancy by the end of the year and a marriage to follow. I really hope that wasn’t true at all, because it just sounds outrageous. This story is less of a whopper and is a little more believable, but it’s hard to tell if it’s true at all.

Jennifer Aniston is shown on the NY set of The Bounty on 7/11/09. Credit: Bauergriffinonline. BRadley Cooper is shown at Much Music in Toronto on 5/26/09. Credit: PRPhotos