Move over conscious uncoupling, there’s a new celebrity divorce term in town: the gentle separation.
In deciding to publicly address his split from Jennifer Aniston for the first time, Justin Theroux has inadvertenly pulled a Gwyneth Paltrow and coined a break-up phrase we can’t help but unpick.
Speaking to the New York Times, Justin called his divorce “heartbreaking” before insisting that it was in fact amicable. Then came a very Hollywood phrase that probably only A-listers can pull off.
“The good news is that was probably the most – I’m choosing my words really carefully, it was kind of the most gentle separation,” he said, “in that there was no animosity. In a weird way, just sort of navigating the inevitable perception of it is the exhausting part.”
It’s with sad irony that we read the last line of his quote, because ultimately in trying to minimise any hint of drama around the divorce and prevent tabloid rumours, he has unwittingly evoked think piece after think piece with everyone wondering, both for fun and with genuine intrigue, what exactly is a gentle separation and is it different to conscious uncoupling?
We can assume Justin is simply stating there was no aggression or anger involved in the break-up.
Whatever happened, we wish both Jen and Justin all the best.
Via our sister site Grazia.
