The Friends star was cast in the role of “poorJen” after her 2000 marriage to Brad Pitt broke down in 2005 – shortly after the actor met his next wife, Angelina Jolie, on the set of Mr and Mrs Smith. Her second trip down the aisle with Justin Theroux in 2015 ended in divorce three years later, leaving fans once again forlorn over her unluckiness in love – despite Aniston’s protestations that she really was “complete” without a partner.
Nevertheless, much celebration ensued when the 56-year-old was spotted with her new boyfriend, Jim Curtis, boarding a yacht in Mallorca this July. And last night, Jen took things one step further; She went Instagram official with her man. “Happy birthday my love. Cherished,” she told Curtis, alongside a black and white photo of them wrapped in each other’s arms. This is the agreed declaration of devotion in the modern age. Confetti canons at the ready.
For those out of the loop, Curtis is a transformational coach and “master hypnotherapist” who battled with chronic illness for over 20 years and now helps others (including model Miranda Kerr and Dancing with the Stars professional Julianne Hough) “break free from their past to create an entirely new, empowered reality”. Incidentally, Aniston was in Daniel Barnz’s impressive film Cake as a chronic pain sufferer in 2014 and the pair reportedly first met through mutual friends and bonded over a shared sense of humour and interest in mindfulness.
This May, social media sleuths spotted she was reading his book Shift: Quantum Manifestation Guide and by June they’d been spotted on a date night dinner in California. “He has this really calm and secure energy. Jen loves it,” a source told People of the “great” match. “She can be very hard on herself. He supports her in a way that feels new.”
As Aniston dropped her loved-up Instagram post on Sunday night, the internet lost its collective mind. At the time of writing, the couple’s pic has over 920,000 likes and 6,000 comments, which have been limited so only certain verified users can respond. “Beautiful couple. Healing kind angels,” wrote comedian and actor Amy Schumer. Meanwhile, The 40-Year-Old Virgin star Leslie Mann sent over a red love heart emoji to Curtis and Aniston. Which might lead you to grab hold of a collective sick bucket, or just quietly wonder what exactly all the fuss is about.
Why is going Instagram official so monumental? The politics of the post are everything – and there’s a lot to unpack. In recent years, it’s become chic to “soft launch” a new partner, particularly among Gen-Zers. This means sharing a picture to your Instagram story – perhaps a photo of a dinner or drinks at a bar – with a man’s elbow in the frame or, if you’re feeling risky, his side profile. This hints that there’s somebody you’re seeing, things are going well, but you’re not quite ready to claim this person as your partner just yet. They’re still on their probation period, if you like. And the story will disappear after 24 hours, if they do. So, definitely No. Big. Deal.
But Aniston has opted for the hard launch. A PDA pic that will remain permanently on her grid, rather than expiring. This tells us the relationship is for the long haul. She’s telling us that she is committed. The relationship is safe to publicise, without fear of ghosting, slow-fading, or other muggy behaviour.
Additionally, Curtis is tagged in the post, meaning Aniston is happy for the world to know exactly who he is and inviting us to find out more about him if we wish. Which we do. Click through to his profile and you’ll see his 675,000 followers, his perfectly coiffed grey hair and his life coaching posts about whether it’s better to settle in a relationship or remain alone (He thinks neither FYI, recommending we cultivate more friendships when not satisfied romantically – something Aniston has done for decades). This is the Instagram age’s answer to attending a red carpet premiere together for the first time in the Nineties. Here, Aniston and Curtis are stepping out on the social (media) scene as one.
Notably, Curtis also shared a post to his grid from his 50th birthday party last night – without Aniston in it. Usually, the chronically online might consider this a waving red flag (the hypnotherapist should want to announce his attachment to Aniston the same way she’s celebrated him) Yet, in this instance, it’s actually more chivalrous to let Aniston take the reins and unleash this – as we now understand it – meteoric announcement. Remember, the Friends star hasn’t publicly dated since her second marriage separated seven years ago. Yet, she’s happy for the world to know about this one, suggesting he’s (a) treating her right and (b) not a loser.
And, of course, Aniston going Instagram official is significant as a symbol of her getting what she said she wanted. “I’d love a relationship. Who knows?” the actor told Allure in 2022. “There are moments I want to just crawl up in a ball and say: ‘I need support.’ It would be wonderful to come home and fall into somebody’s arms and say: ‘That was a tough day.’”
