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Since Gossip Cop launched in 2009, we’ve spent quite literally years debunking stories about Jennifer Aniston being pregnant. In each case, time has proven our reporting was correct. But with so many busts on this topic, Gossip Cop decided to look back at five wrong pregnancy rumors from the past nine months.
Last November, New Idea published a cover story that falsely announced on the front of the issue, “Jen’s Baby Joy: I’m A Mum At Last!” That wasn’t a real quote, and even if it was, Aniston would’ve used the word “mom,” not “mum.” The article alleged she and Justin Theroux were “finally expecting a baby of their own.” But that wasn’t all. It was further claimed that Aniston’s purported pregnancy could “turn to double joy” as she and Theroux were supposedly already in the process of adopting. If this sounds suspicious, that’s because it was all made-up. Or, as Aniston’s spokesperson told Gossip Cop on the record, “It’s all a fabrication.”
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Aniston and Theroux ended up splitting in February, which led Woman’s Day in April to exclaim on a cover, “Yes! Jen’s Pregnant!” Promoting a storyline that other tabloids would soon copy, the magazine maintained she was expecting a baby with ex-husband Brad Pitt. To sell this bogus narrative, the outlet used a picture of the actress in which her stomach appeared to be protruding slightly. What readers weren’t told, and what Gossip Cop pointed out, was that this was a photo of Aniston at the 2013 premiere of We’re The Millers. She wasn’t pregnant back then, and it certainly wasn’t proof of a pregnancy now.
In early May, New Idea pretended it never claimed Aniston was expecting with Theroux last fall to allege she was “pregnant and in hiding” this spring. Here, Pitt was said to be the father. To substantiate the cover story, the publication purported to have “photos that will shock the world.” In actuality, all it had was fuzzy paparazzi shots of Aniston stepping off a private jet in California. These pictures circulated online a good week before the tabloid tried to pass them off as evidence that she was “struggling to hide what looked like a pregnancy.” But as Gossip Cop confirmed, she was neither hiding nor pregnant.
At the end of May, OK! ran its own cover that declared, “Jen: Yes, I’m Pregnant — With Brad’s Baby!” It was alleged “sources are buzzing” that Aniston and Pitt are “finally on their way to becoming a family.” Tellingly, though, the actual article itself never said the “Friends” star was already pregnant, despite the (fake) quote on the cover. In other words, this was a bit of a bait and switch, as Gossip Cop noted in our bust. What’s more, though, is that just days later, the magazine ended up debunking its own Aniston pregnancy rumor with an online piece that essentially called out all of the bogus baby claims she’s faced over the years. At no point, though, did the outlet acknowledge its own culpability, or even take responsibility for its most recent falsehood.
Most recently, its sister tabloid Star speculated Aniston was pregnant just this past week. With an article claiming she’s secretly dating a Hollywood director, the publication quoted a supposed insider as saying, “Her friends are buzzing that she could actually already be hiding a baby.” It was further alleged that best friend Courteney Cox had “told her if the time comes, she’ll throw her the best baby shower ever.” In addition to not naming this purported boyfriend, there was no mention of Aniston being pregnant in February of 2017, which is what this same magazine claimed last year. Now a rep once more confirmed she’s not actually expecting. And, as has been reported, Aniston is single.
On top of all of this, Gossip Cop recently observed that nine months had passed since OK! had claimed Aniston was pregnant with a “miracle baby” last August. Time is often not the gossip media’s friend, but particularly when it comes to pregnancy stories like these. It only takes the passage of time to show without a doubt how wrong these claims are. But as we explained above with these recent examples, there’s also typically other proof to help debunk these allegations when they’re originally made. And if and when Aniston ever does have a baby, there will be real evidence, not the nonsense these tabloids peddle.
