Courteney Cox and Jennifer Ansiton first met on the set of Friends in 1994 and have been besties ever since.
It was Courteney - who turns 58 today - who picked up the pieces when Brad Pitt left Jennifer in 2005 and got with his Mr and Mrs Smith co-star Angelina Jolie, leaving Jen devastated.
And in a Vanity Fair interview from 2005, Jennifer, then 36, couldn't hide her heartbreak when the interviewer broached the subject of Brad's new romance with Angelina Jolie.
Describing how the actress looked like she had been "stabbed in the heart" when asked about rumours Ange was already pregnant - two months before Jen and Brad's divorce was even finalised - the reporter said Jen cried silently for several minutes, unable to stop the tears rolling down her cheeks before shaking her head, too hurt to give an answer.
The line from friends was that he'd wanted to work out what he wanted in life - as a single man - and that he assured Jen it had nothing to do with another woman.
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As for whether she believed the gossip that Brad and Ange had had a full-blown affair - claims both have denied - Jennifer insisted she was choosing to believe Brad, although she admitted she 'wouldn't be surprised' by anything.
However, the strength of her belief was shaken when pictured surfaced of Brad playing the doting dad to Angelina's adopted son Maddox on the beach in Africa on April 29.
Then came a 60-page W magazine photo spread titled Domestic Bliss, which showed Brad and Ange as a 1960's style married couple surrounded by mini blonde Brads.
That, for Jen, was too much. And all the more painful was the fact that Brad had come up with the idea himself and retained the international rights, thereby making a profit.
“There’s a sensitivity chip that’s missing,” Jen admitted. “He makes his choices. He can do—whatever. We’re divorced, and you can see why.”
But it was her long-time friend Courteney who surprisingly came out in Brad's defence. She and her ex-husband David Arquette had holidayed in Anguilla with Brad and Jen just before their divorce announcement and were firm friends with the couple.
“I don’t think he was trying to hurt Jen, I don’t think that Brad is malicious, or a liar. The W thing was his idea, but I don’t think he thought that one through, about what it would look like to anyone else," she protested to the same publication.
She also sensationally revealed that Brad had indeed had a crush on Angelina and had been open with Jennifer about it.
Describing it as 'an attraction that he fought', Courteney continued: “I don’t think he started an affair physically, but I think he was attracted to her. There was a connection, and he was honest about that with Jen. Most of the time, when people are attracted to other people, they don’t tell. At least he was honest about it.”
These days Brad is on excellent terms with both Jennifer and Courteney, having been welcomed back into the fold following his tricky 2016 divorce from Angelina.
Brad also took the rare step of issuing a public statement in 2011 after appearing to brand his marriage to Jen 'boring' in an interview with Parade magazine.
"I spent the '90s trying to hide out, trying to duck the full celebrity cacophony. I started to get sick of myself sitting on a couch, holding a joint, hiding out. It started feeling pathetic. It became very clear to me that I was intent on trying to find a movie about an interesting life, but I wasn't living an interesting life myself," he said.
"I think that my marriage had something to do with it. Trying to pretend the marriage was something that it wasn't."
The Fight Club actor later apologised, insisting he was to blame for his own boredom and hailing his ex 'an incredibly giving, loving, and hilarious woman'.
He explained: "The point I was trying to make is not that Jen was dull, but that I was becoming dull to myself - and that, I am responsible for."
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