Everyone in Hollywood is dating—or has dated—everyone else in Hollywood. It’s the law when you’re hot, rich, and sequestered in a city surrounded by wildfires and suburban sprawls! I mean, what else is there to do? Crisp yourself up with a spray-on tan, get a blow-out, pose for the paparazzi at Craig’s, even order your assistant to to answer the door when Postmates drops off the sushi you ordered? Anyway, Brad Pitt and Ellen DeGeneres confirmed as much on today’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The comedian and daytime television menace revealed she dated one of Brad Pitt’s many, many, many ex-girlfriends sometime in the ’90s. Here’s how that conversation went:
Ellen: Do you remember where we met?
Brad: I remember Melissa Etheridge’s pool party [in the ‘90s], where I think you were hitting on my girlfriend.
Ellen: Was I hitting on your girlfriend, really?
Brad: I think so, I was flattered!
Ellen: I since then have dated another one of your girlfriends.
Ellen could be kidding. Her show relies on clip-worthy moments that are eventually written about on blogs like this one before getting posted to your great-aunt’s Facebook page. But that’s no fun! And with Hollywood’s often blatant misuse of the phrase “gal pals,” I’d much rather spend my Friday traipsing through some vintage gossip for gay rights!
According to the ever “trustworthy” People magazine archives, here’s an official list of women Brad Pitt dated before he married Jennifer Aniston and Ellen started dating Portia Di Rossi (sometime around 2004): Robin Givens; Christina Applegate; Jill Schoelen; E.G. Daily; Juliette Lewis; Geena Davis; Thandie Newton; Gwyneth Paltrow. For each, I’ll cross reference their relationships with Brad Pitt with what we know from tabloids and talk show appearances. The pool party with Melissa Etheridge sometime in the late ’80s will also be our anchor, as Ellen claims she dated one of Pitt’s exes “since then.”
Let’s go.
Robin Givens
Dated Brad Pitt: 1986-1987
Dating history since Brad: Michael Jordan (1990), Eddie Murphy (early ‘90s), Damon Wayans (Allegedly, Mid-90s during Blankman filming/press tour) Svetozar Marinkovic (1997 – 1998), Howard Stern (1999-2000)
While stranger things have happened, Givens was consistently linked to various men for much of the ’90s, and she and Ellen have never been photographed together—let alone mentioned in the same sentence.
Verdict: Highly Unlikely
Christina Applegate:
Dated Brad: 1989
Dating history since Brad: Sebastian Bach (1989), Nuno Bettencourt (1990-1992), Christian Slater (1996), Johnathon Schaech (1997-2007)
Ah yes, another woman asked about her dating life on Watch What Happens Live! (Andy Cohen certainly has an agenda.) Anyways, Christina Applegate famously ditched the 1989 VMAs with Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach—at least, Bach claims as much. She’s also appeared on the Ellen show frequently! In one episode, she greeted the host like this:
Any relationship between the two would have had to take place between 1993-1995, unless Christina was cheating. (Ellen began dating Anne Heche in 1997, the same year Christina married Schaech.) I also wonder if any self-respecting woman like Applegate would rebound from Ellen with Christian Slater.
Verdict: Definitely possible, but let’s not panic!
Jill Schoelen:
Schoelen broke off her three-month engagement to Brad Pitt after falling in love with a film director in Budapest. (The man was rumored to be Frederico Prospieri, who directed Curse II: The Bite.) She later married composer Anthony Marinelli is 1993 before the pair divorced in 2003.
Verdict: Extremely unlikely!!!!!
E.G. Daily:
Dated Brad Pitt: 1989
Dating History Since Brad Pitt: Rick Salomon (1995-2000)
There isn’t much that’s publicly known about E.G. Daily’s love life except that she was previously married to Rick Salomon, who was featured in Paris Hilton’s leaked sex tape. There is an interview from Howard Stern’s show circa 2006 where she lists various men she either dated or slept with, but I couldn’t verify dates. She also claimed she could have had sex with George Clooney but turned him down.
Verdict: Unlikely, but stranger things have happened.
Juliette Lewis
Dated Brad: Sometime between 1990-1993
Dating history since Brad: Tom Sizemore (1994), Adam Sandler (also 1994)
After breaking up with Pitt in 1993, Lewis revealed she spent the following years spiraling deeper into drugs like painkillers and cocaine before seeking treatment in her early 20s. (She later married Steve Berra in 1999, and they were together until 2005.) There is an interesting anecdote in an AfterEllen story on the actress, where interviewer Trish Bendix asks Lewis about the “bisexual rumors.”
And as far as bisexual rumors that have surrounded Juliette, as they do with so many other female celebrities who spend fun nights dancing with girlfriends at clubs and exuding sexuality on stage and screen, she is straight-forward (no pun intended).
“About me? Oh I don’t give a s–t. I’m straight, but let me explain something to you: I am not into those girls that try to play gay to get attention from dudes. I think it is the worst desperation of attention. People who are in love, they’re in love, period. I don’t like that trend.” She continued, “I didn’t know there were rumors about me! As a rock ‘n roller, you’re just a magnetic force. You call it sexuality, I call it mojo!”
Interesting! Lewis is also a Scientologist, and any relationship with a woman would conflict with the Church’s draconian stance on homosexuality. While this hasn’t stopped the media from propagating specific rumors about various members of the church—let’s move on!
Verdict: Please don’t sue me, Scientology!
Geena Davis:
Dated Brad: Allegedly in 1991
Dating history since Brad: Renny Harlin (1993-1998)
The pair starred in Thelma & Louise together, and like most hot co-stars, rumors abounded that the two were also dating. (Those same rumors were later revived in Jason Priestly’s 2014 memoir.) However, she married Renny Harlin in 1993, and their marriage lasted well into Ellen’s relationship with Anne Heche later that decade.
Verdict: Extremely unlikely. However, she’s also been fake married for 17 years—so who knows!
Jitka Pohlodek:
Dated Brad: 1994-1994 (Famously told Vanity Fair in February 1995 he was still in love with Lewis, while still dating Pohlodek!)
Not much is known about the extremely hot Jitka except that she previously dated Brad Pitt and was formally a model. Sad!
Verdict: A girl can only dream.
Thandie Newton:
Dated Brad: Sometime around 1994 and 1995, when filming Interview With a Vampire.
Dating history since Brad: Ol Parker (1998-Present)
Dear Goddess, I don’t ask for much. I really don’t! But if any one of these women had a relationship with Ellen DeGeneres in the ’90s, please let it be Thandie Newton!
Verdict: My poor, gay heart would literally explode.
After hours spent combing the archives, I’m still no closer to the truth! If you’re also more invested in this than is likely healthy for you—don’t forget to leave your own verdict in the comments below!