WASHINGTON • Tabloid coverage of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's split could get ugly, as the tabloids will have to keep up with the two superstars, one of whom (Jolie) is a public relations master.
She has already messed with the magazine production cycles as her divorce bomb ended up online on Tuesday morning, hours after the tabloids went to print on Monday night. Page Six called this "a nightmare for the celebrity magazines that have breathlessly chronicled Brangelina's ups and downs". Now, this week's covers will look embarrassingly outdated.
As a result, People magazine is "crashing" to get next week's issue on newsstands early - a representative confirmed to CNN that next Wednesday's issue (featuring a Brangelina cover) will be on newsstands by Friday, going up against its own Wednesday issue.
Coincidental timing from Jolie? Unlikely. As gossip expert Elaine Lui points out on Lainey Gossip, Jolie - who does not employ a publicist - knows what she is doing.
"She understands how the press works, how the press has evolved. You can see evidence of that in how she delivered the divorce drop - not through the magazines, which is how she used to do it, but via TMZ, online, so it would blow up, quickly, on social media," Lui wrote.
Now the tabloids will have to figure out how to present the story, with two superstars pitted against each other after 12 years and six children.
So far, it has been a lot of Jolie, 41, as she was the one who filed for divorce - and her sources told TMZ.com that "she believes Brad poses a danger to the kids", with substance-abuse issues.
But Pitt, 52, is fighting back. Sources told TMZ.com that it was "a malicious lie" and Us Weekly said he was "blindsided" by the divorce filing.
Amid some reports that Pitt may have been romantically involved with Marion Cotillard, the 40-yearold French actress has denied playing a role in his split with Jolie.
He and Cotillard star in upcoming war drama Allied. In a statement on Instagram on Wednesday, she wished that Pitt and Jolie "will find peace" and confirmed she is expecting a second baby with her longtime partner, French actor Guillaume Canet, "my love, my best friend, the only one that I need".
WASHINGTON POST, REUTERS
