Dear Gossips,

The Academy announced yesterday that Angelina Jolie will present at the Oscars. Great. But...it’s not like she wasn’t already attending with Brad Pitt, Best Actor nominee. We would have seen her anyway. My worry now though is that by confirming the Jolie as a presenter it means Jennifer Aniston WON’T be. Does it really make a difference? Can’t they both do it? Well, sure. And that’s still possible, totally. But it certainly complicates things, especially now that it’s been officially confirmed, and well in advance too, that she’s accepted the invitation. If they were both to be there, scheduling rehearsals would require some  massaging, for example. Keeping them far apart backstage, making sure their categories happen with a huge gap in between, the arrival time logistics, all that must be considered on top of an already complicated show. To say nothing of their personal demands. For example, if I’m Aniston’s manager, and my job is always to protect my client, and I agree to show up at the Oscars, one of my requests will be that you do not cut to her face on a split-screen with the Jolie if Brad Pitt wins. Whether or not the director would comply with that request is another matter. Please. If I’m the director, that’s exactly the shot I put together. And it’s not like Jennifer Aniston could hold a grudge against the Academy, is it? It’s the ACADEMY.

But now I’m running away with it. Now I’m all over the place. Now I’m imagining all the wonderful gossipy opportunities...that Angelina may have just eliminated. I will be really, really impressed if Aniston decides, at the encouragement of Justin Theroux, who thinks it’s finally time, to do it anyway.

Attached - Angelina Jolie presented at the Oscars in February 2004. Filming had just started the month before on Mr & Mrs Smith.  

Yours in gossip,

Lainey