Here’s why Jennifer Aniston’s mother wasn’t invited to her 2000 wedding to Brad Pitt

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Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt’s relationship has been surrounded by speculation this year, with the former couple announced to be friends after splitting 14 years ago.

The former couple broke up in 2005 after five years of marriage and have not been seen together since, but after Brad Pitt’s surprise appearance at Jen’s 50th birthday party, it has emerged that they are now good pals, reconnecting three years ago.

‘Brad contacted Jen after her mom died, and she was touched that he knew what a difficult time it was,’ a source told US Weekly. ‘Brad wishes he’d handled the end of their marriage in a more thoughtful manner. He asked for Jen’s forgiveness a long time ago, and she gave it.’

The former couple made news again this week as details of their wedding in 2000 resurfaced, namely the fact that Jennifer Aniston’s mother wasn’t invited.

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Jen has previously spoken about why she went years without talking to her mother Nancy Dow, explaining: ‘She was a model and she was all about the presentation and what she looked like and what I looked like.’

She continued: ‘She was critical. She was very critical of me. Because she was a model, she was beautiful, magnificent. I wasn’t. I never was.

‘Honestly, I still don’t think of myself in that kind of light, which is good. She was also very unforgiving. She would have the grudges that I just found so mean.

‘This little girl who just wanted to be loved by a mom who was too busy with things that didn’t really matter.

‘She was from this world of "Honey, take better care of yourself" or "Honey, put on your face" or all those strange noises I remember from my childhood’, Jen recalled in a 2018 Ellen interview.

It has been reported that the main fallout occurred in 1999 when Nancy wrote a tell-all book about her and Jen’s relationship, ‘From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Brief’.

The pair are reported to have cut contact after its publication, with Jen not inviting her mother to her wedding to Brad Pitt just a year later.

Jen and her mother are said to have reunited shortly before Nancy’s death in 2016.

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.