After Jen saw her latest movie, Wanderlust, in which she stars alongside new man Justin Theroux, tank at the US box office last weekend, it was the latest setback in a run of bad luck that has left the star in the midst of a fully fledged mid-life crisis.
Opening at number eight behind Tyler Perry's Good Deeds, kid flick Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and Reese Witherspoon's critically panned This Means War, the failure of her movie to take the number-one spot has left industry insiders whispering that America's Sweetheart is not the draw for audiences she used to be.
And on top of her career crisis, Jen has been forced into a humiliating baby U-turn, after slamming fans as "narrow-minded" for thinking that she wants a baby - despite talking for years about how "I've never in my life said I didn't want to have children. I did and I do and I will!"
And to top off Jen's recent spate of woes, the actress has revealed she's quit New York to move back to LA - a move which hasn't been well received by Justin - and neither has the news that she's back in contact with her ex, Gerard Butler, after reaching out to her Bounty Hunter co-star as he battled an addiction to prescription pills.
Scene reveals the depth of Jen's recent life-changing decisions, and spills all on how she and Justin are drifting further and further apart…
Shock baby backtrack
After years of insisting that she would have a baby when the time was right, and that children were definitely part of her future plans, Jen's insistence last week that having a child "doesn't measure the level of my happiness or my success in my life, in my achievements, in any of that" came as a surprise to fans
Adding that she felt it was "very narrow-minded" for people to assume she's unhappy without a baby, the 43-year-old star's comments were a complete U-turn from her previous declaration that, "I've never in my life said I didn't want to have children. I did and I do and I will!"
"Justin has been dragging his feet on the idea," spilled a NY source. "At first they were on the same page as far as moving quite quickly when it came to having children was concerned; but recently he's been pulling back." Adding, "That's what's behind her backtrack. She wants to lay the groundwork for the fact that it might not happen for her, and she doesn't want to feel embarrassed."
Having last year told People, "I think people honestly just want to see me as a mom and married and barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. And I just want to say, ‘Everybody, relax! It's going to happen'," Jennifer's baby plans had been set in stone years previously, when in 2005, after her divorce from Brad was finalised, she told Vanity Fair, "The women who inspire me are the ones who have careers and children; why would I want to limit myself? I've always wanted to have children, and I would never give up that experience for a career. I want to have it all."
"Jen has pulled out the ‘I want babies, for real' card whenever she promotes a movie, gleefully joking about ‘the rumours' while selling her wholesome, baby-desiring brand repeatedly in magazines," sniped one Hollywood-watcher. "Now, after playing the baby card for years, Aniston is truly upset that we would take her at her word, that we would believe her public statements. [It seems] she only talks about wanting to have kids when she's selling us a movie."
Quitting New York
Having grown up in New York, Jen last year made a big deal out of shifting her base from LA to the East Coast to move in with Justin, 43. But after just a few months, Jen has upped sticks and left the Big Apple, after claiming she felt as if she was "living in a fishbowl" in the city.
"We tried New York [but] it felt like I was [living] in a fishbowl," she told the Kylie and Jackie O Radio Show in Sydney, last week. "It was a little rough with the paparazzi. It didn't feel like the New York I grew up in and knew."
But Jen's move back to Hollywood is said to have gone over badly with Justin, who Jen admitted "still has an apartment there", as all his pals are based in the city.
"He doesn't want to be based full time in LA," spilled an insider. "Hollywood is not his thing at all. He wants to focus on his writing and he says that New York is a more creative place than LA. He's not an industry person at all. It's causing friction."
Back with Butler!
After Gerard Butler emerged from his recent stint in rehab looking better than ever, sources credited his close friendship with ex-girlfriend Jennifer Aniston for his new glow.
The pair, who dated for a few months between 2009-10 after starring in The Bounty Hunter together, are said to be back in regular contact, after it was Jen who encouraged the Scottish star to seek help for his addictions.
"Jennifer saw that Gerard was in need of help and told him to pack his bags and head to rehab," spilled a friend. "She said it's not too late for him to get his life back on track, and it takes a bigger man to admit his problems."
"They've got close again recently," revealed an LA source. "Jen has fond memories of her time with Gerard - he's a man's man and she liked that." Adding, "Sometimes Justin's super-hip lifestyle can get a bit too much for her and she starts reminiscing about Gerard's no-nonsense, down-to-earth attitude."
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