Brad Pitt on TODAY: Aniston 'a dear friend of mine'

Although Brad Pitt has "Moneyball," one of his most-buzzed about films in recent memory set to release, comments he made to Parade magazine involving his ex Jennifer Aniston remain top of mind.

Pitt spoke to Matt Lauer in an interview to air Thursday on TODAY, and clarified some of those remarks, saying that his point was lost in the controversy. "I don't know what was pieced together or put together. All I know is that my point was, the best thing I'd done as a father is be sure that my kids have a good mother," Pitt said. "That's all I was, or am, trying to say. It has no reference to the past. And I think it's a shame that I can't say something nice about Angie without Jen being drug in. You know, she doesn't deserve it."

Pitt told Lauer that although he chooses to "live outside all that," i.e., the rumors that constantly swirl around his relationships with current partner Angelina Jolie or Aniston, he had to attempt to clarify what he meant to say. "I don't want them to say anything bad like that about Jen. She's a dear friend of mine," he said, adding that Aniston did not reach out to him after the Parade quotes were published. 

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But back to the driving force behind Pitt's interview: "Moneyball." Although there's already Oscar talk surrounding the baseball pic, Pitt says he's distancing himself from that for now. "It remains a great piece of material for me that I got to take on. And, we're all -- it's too early to talk about all that other stuff," Pitt told Lauer. "It's all good fun if your number comes up, and it's even more fun when your friend's number comes up."

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Tune in Thursday for the complete interview on TODAY.

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