Justin Theroux and Woody Harrelson cover the latest (digital) issue of Esquire, all to promote their new HBO/Max series, White House Plumbers. I don’t really understand why all of these Watergate-intensive series are being greenlit by various networks and studios, but this is like the fourth one in the past two years? Why all the fascination with Watergate? In any case, Justin Theroux plays G. Gordon Liddy and Harrelson plays E. Howard Hunt. They are the “White House Plumbers,” aka the ratf–kers. I skimmed this dual interview and it was pretty boring. They’re trying to lean into the idea that Woody and Justin are BFFs and I don’t think that’s the case, but whatever. A few of Justin’s answers were sort of interesting though:
Theroux isn’t political: “In different ways. I don’t know. It’s weird. God, I don’t consider myself terribly political. Being in the arts, I’ve been to my fair share of protests and made donations and done letter writing, but now I want to stay out of it and just do my work and hopefully that has an impact. I think, especially when it comes to humor or satire, I can do more if I stay in my lane.
Theroux doesn’t believe in big-state conspiracies: “One of the reasons why I don’t think there’s some sort of big deep-state conspiracy is that I’ve been able to see that it’s not this big Oz that’s up there controlling things. Living and growing up in D.C., you realize these are just government workers. You pull the curtain back and people are just pulling small levers. They might be pulling them the wrong way and doing things you don’t want them to do, but the FBI is not a big, cool, dark room with tons of computer screens wrapping around the thing. It’s offices with cubicles and pencil holders.
Whether he reads the comments: “The Internet is like this really big high school, and why on earth would you walk around it checking every room and broom closet for the bully to kick your ass? I don’t linger.”
Theroux on being “inside the maelstrom of social-media users theorizing about your personal life, mainly in your divorce from Jennifer Aniston.” “There’s something to, once you’re out of that, where I want all of my relationships to exist within the four walls of whatever room we’re in. And I’m not trying to be evasive, but I talk to Jen—I don’t talk about Jen. People will always want to gossip and say things, but you have to find that balance. And having been in a public relationship, it’s much more fun not being in a public relationship. Me saying anything, even if it was something loving, it would just turn into a thing. So it’s a classic no-comment situation for me.
I definitely appreciate the fact that everyone in the media got the memo that we’re not supposed to say that Justin Theroux and Jennifer Aniston were “married.” What they had was not a legal marriage, as we only discovered once they broke up, and neither of them has ever acknowledged that they lied for years about it. As for Justin’s discomfort at being part of a public relationship… he certainly enjoyed the spoils of it. Once he dumped Heidi Bivens and got with Aniston, he signed onto CAA and started booking all kinds of new roles. Almost as if that was the implicit quid pro quo. But whatever, we never hear anything about his personal life these days, so I buy that he really, really doesn’t like being gossiped about.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of Esquire.
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- 163695, Actor Justin Theroux (L) and actress Jennifer Aniston attend the premiere of HBO’s ‘The Leftovers’ Season 3 at Avalon Hollywood. Los Angeles, California – Tuesday April 4, 2017. Photograph: © Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000,Image: 512772755, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – DIRECT SALES ONLY- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- 163684, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux attends the premiere Of HBO’s ‘The Leftovers’ Season 3 at Avalon Hollywood. Los Angeles, California – Tuesday April 4, 2017. Photograph: © PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Photoshot): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000,Image: 512788754, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – DIRECT SALES ONLY- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux at the Jason Bateman Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Hollywood, CA 07-26-17,Image: 514631003, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Martin Sloan / Avalon
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – DECEMBER 09: Actor Justin Theroux arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Paramount Pictures’ ‘Bumblebee’ held at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on December 9, 2018 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 534864722, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289 – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / Image Press Agency / Avalon
It seems like their relationship was one of those “good while it lasted, no hard feelings” thing. But the fake wedding thing was super strange. I can see both of them thinking it was some kind of weird f-you to all of the gossip rags but it was really just stupid. These two always struck me as thinking they were way cooler than they were. They’re just . . . white bread.
I think they got married they just didn’t sign the paperwork
I think they just fell into an easy relationship that lasted longer than anyone expected. I did hear him on a podcast joking about his tabloid self being way more interesting than himself (he was laughing about it like we all would). I think there are certain people in Hollywood that are always in the eye of the storm and when you date them you become fodder too. Jen is one of those people despite being very low key.
I don’t think Jennifer is his type at all, it seemed to me that he was just plain old using her for a leg up. And I guess she got to be in some form of ‘steady’relationship7/marriage post Brad.
it was a mutually beneficial arrangement. And LOL, you can bet your bottom dollar that SHE (i:e her agent) approached HIM.
It was pretty obvious Jen’s relationship with Justin was due to Angie & Brad.
1. Angie and Brad got engaged and within months, Jen & Justin got engaged
2. Angie & Brad got married and again, Jen & Justin “supposedly” got married soon after that.
3. Angie and Brad break up and what do you know, Jen & Justin also broke up quickly
Jen totally lived her life in parallel to Brad’s for years and thankfully, she has stopped doing that.
It seems for the past few years, Jen has realised she doesn’t owe anyone anything and is happy being single and living life.
I really don’t care that they weren’t married. I think it was smart of Aniston not to go through with it legally. I think maybe it was planned already so they decided to go through with it ceremonially rather than legally with all the oh no they called it off the wedding pearl clutching because it would have been seen negatively and maybe they didn’t want their relationship to end (yet anyway!).
Really. It’s not that big a deal. A lot of people have commitment ceremonies and consider themselves “married” without a legal license.
The issue is the lying
Did they refer to themselves as husband and wife in statements they released?
I don’t understand why it’s so important to consider them liars because their marriage wasn’t legal. I knew plenty of people growing up (mostly hippy artists) who chose not to be married by the state. I would never dream of telling my friend’s parents that they weren’t married or were liars.
Marriage has existed as a cultural, social, and religious contract for thousands of years. When I got married we signed two marriage contracts, one was written by our rabbi and that one is much more meaningful to me than the one from the state of California.
I’m not saying i don’t understand the difference, or that the “state dividing our assets” part is the dominant piece in our time. But I don’t think that people who view it differently are delusional liars.
Agree. People have reasons for their choices and I don’t consider it lying to present something in the most easy to grasp palatable way in a culture that demands women especially be one thing.
Marriages as a legal thing versus marriage as a commitment thing, I can’t stand the obsession with it. It seems so misogynistic in this culture, like Jen already pigeonholed and gossiped about relentlessly as such a bad person because she didn’t have kids (thanks to POS Brad for that decade of lies).
Agreed. If they had a ceremony and considered themselves to be married then I don’t view it as being a lie. Marriage shouldn’t just be about paperwork. Their personal arrangement was also no one else’s business.
LOL……….I swear, even tho the internet is forever and google is just a fingertip away, folks today have the collective memory of a gnat! LMAO
Anyhooooo…….it was a big fking pathetic lie when jenny’s agent (because she does nothing without her agent) announced her “marriage” to theroux who came out of nowhere. And she did it to FOOL her “fans” and to take shame out of her eye, as the saying goes, in DIRECT RESPONSE to Brad and Angie’s life together.
As @Sierra said upthread:
1. Angie and Brad got engaged and within months, Jen & Justin got engaged
2. Angie & Brad got married and again, Jen & Justin “supposedly” got married soon after that.
3. Angie and Brad break up and what do you know, Jen & Justin also broke up quickly.
Yes its common for couples to have “commitment ceremonies” thats not recognized in law but which is very much binding as far as the couple is concerned. Thats not what jenny did. Jenny has played the HWd game from before she got with Brad until this day.
Thats been her choice. So lets not pretend otherwise, now that its approaching the midnight of her career.
The joy of this site is that it places gossip within a larger conversation about culture, power, politics, society. That’s why I’m here, as opposed to say DListed. I don’t need to Google the history of the Brange triangle drama to say that I think people can define marriage outside of paperwork. That’s why the show is called “Sister wives” even though no crimes were committed, not all marriages align with the state. And saying that has no impact on whether or not I think Jen felt a need to control a narrative around her brand / persona. I am far more invested in defending the adults I grew up around, who I valued personally.
Her marriage announcement didn’t come out of nowhere. Jen and Justin were dating for a while and they decided to get married. With Jennifer’s money I would never legally marry again either. I could see why they had a marriage ceremony only. I don’t see the big deal. I also doubt she cares what Angelina and Brad were up to.
I mean, it’s not that deep.
Jen had so many romances between Brad and Justin, this is strange tunnel vision. Timeline: Brad’s romance with Angelina ended his marriage, no gap.
Jennifer didn’t jump into things for a while. There were eventually romances with Vince Vaughn and John Meyer, when John Meyer wasn’t known to be the jerk we now know him to be, and these were not speed dating relationships! Since her divorce it seems like her biggest relationship has been with her girlfriends, dogs, yoga and the ocean. Some movies and TV. Guys come and go but throw out this tabloid dualism that reduces one person to just their relationship to Brad Pitt. No woman should be reduced to that!
The midnight of her career? WTF.
I think it was the PR release that made it weird. They definitely were entitled to any ceremony that they wanted, legal or not, and they owed no one information about it. But they made a deliberate choice to make an announcement of marriage, which just seems stupid. I don’t think it makes them bad people, it just seems really silly and like some sort of weird game that no one else was playing.
I remember Howard Stern talked about attending the wedding on his show. Kimmel was the “officiant” & after the wedding a bunch of people all went on their “honeymoon” with them. It all seemed so ridiculous and ‘in your face’ for a fake wedding. I think she wanted people to think she was married which is really rather sad since no one has to prove anything to anyone except themselves.
He has always given off arrogant vibes, this guy. He had a real treasure in Heidi. Beautiful and talented and well respected in the industry … and dumped by Justin for Aniston. I hope Heidi is well and happy.
Meh, I don’t really care if a couple that publicly claims to have gotten married did it “legally” or just with a commitment ceremony for themselves, with or without family and friends. It means what it means to them. And their marriage lasted about as long as many that are made official with the state, so I don’t see how it’s any less valid. As others have said, Jen has a LOT of money so it made sense for her to forego that. They didn’t need it.
I think Justin is a good actor and pretty easy on the eyes. Maybe his relationship with Jennifer did help him start getting more roles. That doesn’t mean it’s why he was with her, even if he knew on some level those perks might come along. I do feel bad for his ex, though.
I like what he said about the internet and looking for bullies in closets. Well put.
Nice comment. Agree with everything you said. not everything JA does is suspect and about B and A.
I love what he had to say about the absence of a Deep State conspiracy. Good insight from a DC local.
Justin Theroux has had a career that spanned decades. Some actors appreciate roles like The Leftovers or Mulholland Drive. Not everyone wants to be Tom Cruise style of movie star.
They seemed a mismatch to me – her being LA sunshine, yoga and Cabo beach vacations. He seemed more the NY ‘edgy’, artsy crowd. So maybe the relationship just evaporated. I could care less if they had a legal marriage or just exchanged vows in front of friends.
I just binge watched The Morning Show. I was happy to see Jennifer Aniston tackle the role of Alex Levy. I hardly see her as entering the midnight of her career (said someone snarky above). Do we say the same of Steve Carell – her co star of similar age. Or is it just women? And then ask yourself why men are treated differently. Sigh.
They are (were) an odd pair – but they have mutual friends. I listen to Smartless quite a bit and Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett are good friends with JA – have regular dinners at her place – and they bring up their good friend JT in nearly every episode. I’m gonna guess that’s how they crossed over. Likely a case of opposites attracting.
JA has actually grown on me over time, and I agree – she’s great in The Morning Show.
It must be great not to care about who is elected to office and to be able to say, “I’m not political.” To me, that’s different than saying that you don’t discuss your political affiliations publicly. Not being political is like saying you don’t care whether a candidate is for everyone getting voting rights, or if women have full control over their bodies, or if anyone, including the insane and those accused of stalking, having access to lethal weapons or not. To not care about those things, for example, is just the height of arrogance and selfishness to me. Yeah, he looks like the type.
Debbie, I totally agree. Such a privileged douchey entitled white male. This sh*t is so tiring.
Nothing wrong with a ceremonial wedding. Legal is just a small part of what makes a marriage, but if I had her millions, I’d probably avoid it too.
The spiked interest in Watergate is due to the Trump scandals. It was 4+ years of “XYZ is the worst presidential scandal since Watergate” and “Nixon resigned for less.” It’s all just processing the present thru the past.