Jennifer Aniston’s enjoying her life to the fullest and basking in the success of The Morning Show while refusing to put pressure on herself to find a new romance — and a source exclusively tells In Touch she’s well and truly sick of the “Poor Jen” narrative that continues to haunt her 20 years after she split from ex Brad Pitt.
“It irritates her that there’s this view that she’s somehow failed at life because she’s single. She really bristles at it, but not enough to prove everyone wrong by flaunting her love life for everyone to see,” the insider explains.
“She has plenty of dates, she isn’t the lonely spinster people make her out to be. She’s just very, very private.”
Jen’s hugely-publicized and much speculated-upon 2005 divorce from Brad, 61, taught her a painful lesson about the value of privacy when it comes to personal relationships. The blond hunk reportedly fell in love with his future ex wife, Angelina Jolie, on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which precipitated the implosion of his five-year marriage to Jen, 56. She became the poster child for the very concept of being dumped and many fans to this day sympathize with how unfairly she was perceived to have been treated by the Troy star.
“She’s learned the hard way that the moment people find out she’s dating someone it, becomes front page news and nine times out of ten, the pressure of that attention ends up destroying her happiness,” the source says. “She would rather keep her personal life totally locked down than have it become front page news, and if that means getting a reputation as this scorned lover, then so be it, but that doesn’t mean she’s okay with it, of course it gets under her skin.”
Despite the Friends alum’s best efforts, many wanted desperately to believe the rumors of a relationship between her and one of the hottest actors in Hollywood right now, Pedro Pascal. Though a second source previously told In Touch the two are purely platonic after a three-hour dinner together ignited the gossip, it goes to show she’s still considered the “dumped girl” in the public’s mind.
“Everyone is hoping that Jen and Pedro’s dinner date is a sign of a blossoming romance, but unfortunately, they’re just friends,” that insider said. “They do make a great couple, which is probably why they looked like they were on a romantic date,” the source added. “Of course, their friends would love for them to get together. Who knows what the future holds, but as of right now, they are just enjoying this new friendship.”
Jen has kept her dating life under lock and key since her split from Justin, 53. “She has no choice but to suck it up and ignore all the chatter and just live her life behind closed doors,” the first source laments.
