After his divorce from Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt is getting by with a little help from his friend Alia Shawkat.
“They have an incredibly tight bond and trust each other implicitly,” a source reveals exclusively in the new issue of Us Weekly. “Alia’s been a wonderful help for Brad during this major transition.”
Pitt, 56, and Jolie, 44, started dating after meeting on the set of their 2005 movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The pair — who share Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 13, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 11 — secretly married in August 2014 and separated in September 2016. They became legally single in April 2019.
While the Ad Astra actor has not publicly dated anyone since the Maleficent star, he has made headlines for developing close friendships with Shawkat, 31, and MIT professor Neri Oxman, among others. He was first spotted with the Arrested Development alum at an art exhibition in November 2019.
“They’re hanging out plenty,” a second source told Us exclusively. “They’re only about 10 minutes away from each other, so Alia will bike or walk to Brad’s place whenever they have time to chill. It’s all very organic and easy.”
The pals have even gotten creative with their hangouts during the coronavirus pandemic. The first source tells Us that “they’ll order to-go food like burgers or pizza and just kick back for hours, or go for a drive down the coast.” A third insider, however, maintains that the two are just friends.
Pitt, who was married to Jennifer Aniston before Jolie, joked about his single status several times during the 2020 awards season. He quipped on stage at the SAG Awards in January that he was “going to add this [win] to my Tinder profile.” Later that month, the actor joked in his BAFTA Awards speech that he and Britain both “just became single,” referencing his divorce and Brexit.
“Historically, I’ve always been really tentative about speeches. They make me nervous,” Pitt told reporters at the Oscars in February. “So this round I figured if we’re gonna do this, [I’m going to] put some real work into it, try to get comfortable, and this is a result of that. I definitely write [them].”
