For Brangelina, Talk Ain't Cheap

Journalists the world over were outraged over reports that Mr. and Mrs. Smith co-stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been brandishing contracts threatening legal action against interviewers who ask them about their personal lives. But sources say the contracts may have more to do with protecting Pitt during his impending divorce from Jennifer Aniston than a newfound desire for privacy. If either leaks word that a liaison took place prior to Pitt's formal separation from Aniston, the chisel-cheeked actor may be at risk of losing not only his innocent mystique but a nice chunk of the couple’s estimated $190 million fortune.

Their joint assets include a production company, Plan B Entertainment (which is releasing Charlie and The Chocolate Factory next month), several homes, and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s old yacht, worth an estimated $5.7 million. Aniston, who ranked 17th last year on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list—19 slots above her soon-to-be ex—banked $26 million last year and took home $1.25 million an episode in her last season of Friends (there were 233 episodes in the sitcom’s 10-year run.) Under California statutes, everything the couple acquired during their marriage would be divided in family court and any evidence of an affair could be used against Pitt. “There’s no question that this information could be entered into a divorce trial as evidence,” says famed New York divorce attorney Raoul Felder. “It’s obvious they want to control whatever exposure they get, but I don’t understand how any journalist would agree to be party to this. In fact, any journalist who signs this agreement is in my mind a member of the oldest profession.”

Earlier: Pitt and Jolie Shoot a Load in W

Photo: PMC