This is the allegation that has followed Brad Pitt for over two decades and one he has never fully been able to shake. The rumours started during the filming of ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ in 2004, when Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston. The two confirmed their separation in January 2005, and just months later, Pitt and Jolie were already being photographed together on holiday.

Aniston did not hold back when speaking to Vanity Fair at the time. “The world was shocked, and I was shocked. I’d be a robot if I said I didn’t feel moments of anger, of hurt, of embarrassment,” she said. Pitt, on his part, denied that anything physical happened while he was still married, telling CNN in 2007 that any feelings for Jolie only developed after his marriage was already over.

Those close to the situation told a slightly different story, though. Aniston’s close friend Courteney Cox revealed that Pitt had actually confessed his attraction to Jolie to his then-wife before the split. “There was a connection, and he was honest about that with Jen. It was an attraction that he fought for a period of time,” she said. A source close to the couple told People magazine that the two had “gradually lost sight of themselves as individuals” and that “despite having everything they might want, they weren’t happy.”