Given Brad Pitt’s recent visit and investment interest in Croatia, it was perhaps only a matter of time before some tabloid linked a Croatian woman to the break-up of his marriage. A quite extraodinary look at how a damaging and unfounded allegation is made on September 29, 2016.
We don’t write too much about celebrities here at TCN, but when the lead singer of U2 shares his appreciation of a particularly fine Dalmatian lunch to his millions of Facebook fans, or when a Hollywood A-lister jets into Sibenik with an interest in investing in new luxury resort, there is room on the site for such stories. Apart from the human interest, such stories tend to get shared more and reach a wider global audience, which in turn leads to an increasing level of international media contact for more details.
And so it was last night that an incoming email from a media outlet in the US asked us for a little detail on the recent visit by Pitt to Sibenik. They wanted to know more details about stories that Pitt had been partying with male friends on a yacht, which bars and restaurants he had been to, and what kind of mood he was in, for there were apparently breaking stories in the US that Pitt may have had a Croatian girlfriend and that could have been the reason for the split, something which was news to me and had not appeared in the Croatian media.
Out of curiousity, I googled ‘Brad Pitt Croatia’, and sure enough, an exclusive story had been published by the SAME publication as that now enquiring, entitled. Brad Pitt Conquers Croatia Cutie – in Angelina Jolie’s Bed! Wow, that was a story, but before I went on to read the sordid details, I could not help wondering how he had got this Sibenik beauty into his wife’s bed, unless he had brought the bed with him on the plane to Croatia.
I won’t dignify the exclusive by linking to it, but the explosive evidence was really quite startling. It consisted of the following:
- A Croatian beauty who was the image of Angelina Jolie took a ‘walk on the wild side’ with Pitt, although she herself said they were only friends – a compelling exclusive so far.
- The ‘exclusive’ decided not to name the alleged Croatian lady, for reasons undisclosed. Perhaps the fact that she did not exist was high among them?
- And now the proof! – A friend of the Croatian beauty had this to say – She told me: ‘I cheated with him in Angelina’s bed!’ She didn’t give me any details. All I know he was quite taken with her.
- The woman is an employee of the resort where Pitt stayed, and posed for a photo with him. So, investigative journalists, get yourselves down to the D-Marin in Sibenik and look for an Angelina lookalike and you have a story.
Except…
Several hours AFTER this exclusive was posted (and shared by Hollywood gossip sites), a journalist from the same website contacted us for information as mentioned above, making no mention that they had already published a story outing Pitt’s alleged infidelity. Paraphrasing the email exchange, the journalist had concluded that something must have happened to cause her to file for the divorce (well done, Sherlock), and that yes, there had been the alleged midair fight with his son, but there must be a woman somewhere, especially as the strong rumours of a romantic interest with actress Marion Cotillard had now been dismissed (according to our enquiring journalist). And the final piece of evidence came in the last sentence of the email exchange:
“A lot of beautiful women in Croatia!”
And there are, as there are in other countries. Perhaps there was a Croatian love interest on Pitt’s recent visit. Perhaps he really does travel the world with his wife’s bed, so that frieds of his alleged lovers can claim their friends have slept with Pitt in Jolie’s bed, even when those friends claim they are just friends of the star. Perhaps.
But this total non-story whose sole purpose is to attract clicks to a sensationalist website, is one more example of irresponsible reporting, never mind the damage it could cause, or the feelings it could hurt – remember there are six children in this break up as well.
