Rumors of "Brangelina" Split "Very False"
The latest report that super-couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are breaking up is "very false," according to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.
He told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez Monday he "was bombarded with e-mails and people tweeting me" about the weekend report. "The interesting thing about how people consume news now is, once somebody reads something on the Internet, they believe it to be true, but that's not the case. A rep for Brangelina (the nickname given the super-couple by the press) has denied it, and close sources to them have personally denied it to me. In fact, somebody very close to them. And they kind of are bothered by it, but they're not really gonna go out of their way to set the record straight. They never have."
The report, in a British tabloid, says Pitt and Jolie, though they never married, met with a divorce lawyer to draw up a document splitting their millions and laying out terms of custody of their six kids (three biological, three adopted). They've been together five years.
Hilton says he's told that meeting never took place.
Between them, notes CBS News Correspondent John Blackstone, Pitt and Jolie have been nominated for more than 100 acting awards, but their life off camera draws even more attention. They've weathered break-up rumors before, Blackstone points out, but the new tabloid report sent the Internet into overdrive.
Us Weekly Executive Editor Caroline Schaefer told CBS News the latest report "has caused a lot of attention, because there is so much detail in it about this alleged pre-nuptial agreement."
But sources also tell "Us Weekly" the relationship is intact.
Pitt was alone at the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon Friday night and, observers Blackstone, Jolie recently told a German magazine she doesn't believe in monogamy.
Hilton says, "A close source to them reminded me that this is a very difficult time of the year for Angelina. And, if they don't have to go to awards shows, they won't, because only just two years ago, Angelina's mom and a very good friend passed away. And just because a couple doesn't go to awards shows together, which is where I think all this stemmed from, that doesn't mean that they're breaking up.
"This story that's caused all of this drama," he continued, "originated from this newspaper article in the U.K., this publication called The News of the World, which has a history of repeatedly making up stories or paying for information that then turns out to be false. So, I don't find them to be credible at all.
"And, from everything I'm hearing and reading, it's absolutely not true. Everyone can calm down. Brangelina is still together. Jennifer Aniston (Pitt's ex) is not having a party just yet."