More than many of her fellow Hollywood stars, Jennifer Aniston has faced a lot of rumors. The Morning Show actor has appeared in the tabloids for years, with one untrue story that frequently shows up being that she's pregnant. Well, now the star is facing another kid-related lie. According to TMZ, it was reported by European tabloids that Aniston is adopting a child. And, rather than ignoring it, this time her representative shut the rumor down.
TMZ reported that various tabloids claimed that during the taping of the upcoming Friends reunion for HBO Max, Aniston revealed to her co-stars that she was adopting a kid. Her rep told the website that the claim was "false and never happened." "The story is a fabrication," they told People.
This is far from the first time Aniston has denied baby news. Over the years, she has made many comments about potential motherhood and the incessant rumors. Read on to see some of the times she's spoken out. And for more on the actor, Relive Jennifer Aniston's Last 27 Years in Hollywood, in Photos.
She wrote an essay about the rumors in 2016.
In July 2016, Aniston wrote an essay for HuffPost titled "For the Record" about how offensive she finds the constant rumors about her having a baby and the speculation about her body. At the time, she was with ex-husband Justin Theroux, but whether she's been in a relationship or not, the rumors have persisted.
"For the record, I am not pregnant," she wrote. "What I am is fed up. I'm fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of 'journalism,' the 'First Amendment' and 'celebrity news.'"
She also wrote about the harmful impact that tabloids can have in the way they present stories about women.
"Yes, I may become a mother some day, and since I'm laying it all out there, if I ever do, I will be the first to let you know," Aniston writes. "But I'm not in pursuit of motherhood because I feel incomplete in some way, as our celebrity news culture would lead us all to believe."
Read about another celeb who was subject to Hollywood's double standards in This Actor Was Asked to Play a Grandmother as Soon as She Turned 40.
Her idea of happiness "might be different from other people's."
In 2017, Aniston spoke to Glamour and touched on the rumors, including seeing photos of herself with captions like "Finally pregnant!"
"If your body is in a normal moment of having had a bite or two, or you're having a moment of bloat, then there's arrows circled around your stomach, telling you that you're pregnant," she said. "And it's like, actually no, it's just my body. Not that it's any of your business to begin with. Having a child, as we know, is no one's business except the couple or individual that's going through it."
She added, "And my ideas of what a happy life and fulfilled life are might be different from other people's. I think it's to each their own."
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She pointed out how "reckless" the rumors are.
"The misconceptions are 'Jen can't keep a man,' and 'Jen refuses to have a baby because she's selfish and committed to her career,'" Aniston said in an August 2018 InStyle interview. "Or that I'm sad and heartbroken. First, with all due respect, I'm not heartbroken. And second, those are reckless assumptions. No one knows what's going on behind closed doors. No one considers how sensitive that might be for my partner and me. They don't know what I've been through medically or emotionally."
In the past, Aniston did say that she wanted kids in a 2005 Vanity Fair interview soon after her split from Brad Pitt, but that doesn't mean children were always her "purpose" or that things can't change.
"There is a pressure on women to be mothers, and if they are not, then they're deemed damaged goods," she told InStyle. "Maybe my purpose on this planet isn't to procreate. Maybe I have other things I'm supposed to do."
For more on the treatment Aniston has endured, check out This Resurfaced Jennifer Aniston Interview Has Fans Horrified.
She doesn't know what the future holds, and she's okay with that.
In December 2018, Aniston spoke with Elle and said that she still maybe would have children, though the idea always felt "quite honestly, kind of frightening" to her.
"Some people are just built to be wives and have babies. I don't know how naturally that comes to me," she said. "Who knows what the future holds in terms of a child and a partnership—how that child comes in… or doesn't? And now with science and miracles, we can do things at different times than we used to be able to."
Still, she very much rejects the idea of a traditional "happy ending." She explained, "It's a very storybook idea. I understand it, and I think for some people it does work. And it's powerful and it's incredible and it's admirable. Even enviable. But everybody's path is different."
The Friends star has been open about her past relationships. Read more in Jennifer Aniston Says This Is Her Biggest Regret About Brad Pitt.
Her team has been contacted about countless rumors.
The New York Times published an article in 2019 about Aniston's many tabloid storylines—being pregnant, getting back together with Pitt—and noted that by one tabloid's count, she would have had 15 kids since 2013.
Her publicist, Steven Huvane, told the New York Times, "Every week I get these emails, 'We're working on a story that Jennifer is pregnant.' I will say, 'This is a complete fabrication. There's no truth to this or this is all ridiculous and completely false.' And they still go with the story."
For an impression of Aniston that actually comes from someone close to her, check out Jennifer Aniston Just Got a Sweet Birthday Wish From This Ex.
Lia Beck Lia Beck is a writer living in Richmond, Virginia. In addition to Best Life, she has written for Refinery29, Bustle, Hello Giggles, InStyle, and more.Read moreFiled UnderActors • Celebrities • Entertainment • NewsRead This NextJennifer Aniston's Biggest Brad Pitt Regret
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