Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow Are Kaput

June 17, 1997
http://mrshowbiz.go.com/news/Todays_Stories/970617/6_17_97_10pittpaltrow.html


One of Hollywood's most glamorous and seemingly most stable couples
has decided to call it quits. Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow, who
appeared so in love they even started to look alike, have called off
their seven-month engagement and parted ways. No reason was given for
the split. "Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow have mutually agreed to end
their two-and-a-half-year relationship," said a brief statement
released through Pitt's publicist, Cindy Guagenti. "They have been
broken up for a couple of weeks now," Guagenti told the New York Post.
"It's not because of any one specific event." A source told the Post
that the pair is not even speaking.

The thirty-two-year-old Pitt and twenty-four-year-old Paltrow had been
madly in love since meeting on the set of the 1995 film Seven, in
which they played husband and wife. Both described the meeting as
"love at first sight," and Pitt admitted to Rolling Stone that he
became "goofy" as soon as he got "within ten feet of her." Over
Thanksgiving, Pitt proposed to Gwyneth in Argentina on the set of his
upcoming film Seven Years in Tibet, and presented her with a simple
diamond engagement ring that he designed. Pitt had proposed several
times before to Paltrow, but had been turned down, perhaps because
Gwyneth's father, director Bruce Paltrow, had warned her not to marry
an actor.

The beautiful couple's breakup leaves the fate of Duets up in the air.
Pitt and Paltrow had planned to start filming the comedy, to be
directed by Gwyneth's dad, in September. "He's going to honor whatever
obligations he has," Guagenti told the New York Daily News, referring
to Pitt. Paltrow had put her career second in order to spend time with
Pitt. She turned down the role of Emma Peel in the high-profile big-
screen adaptation of The Avengers because it would have meant four
months away from her fiance. Instead, she stayed with him in New York,
where he is filming Meet Joe Black. The part later went to Uma Thurman,
who will star opposite Ralph Fiennes. Paltrow recently completed work
on an update of the Dickens classic Great Expectations. Pitt had
something of a habit of dating his co-stars, including a three-year
love affair with Juliette Lewis. But this time, it looked like the
real thing. In March, he told Rolling Stone that he was anxiously
awaiting his forthcoming wedding. "I can't wait, man," he told the
magazine. "Walk down the aisle, wear the ring, kiss the bride. Oh,
it's going to be great."