Profiled: Jennifer Aniston is Zen for Vanity Fair

Sometimes, I want to delve into a current profile or interview, but the main Gossip Reading Club stuff is largely devoted to older stuff so I avoid it. since I broke that rule this Summer by dedicating an issue to Pedro Pascal’s most recent cover, I’ve decided to lean in and start a new segment for current celebrity articles, reports, interviews, etc. Welcome to Profiled (I suck at names, okay?)

Vanity Fair. "Zen and the Art of Being Jennifer Aniston." August 11, 2025. Julie Miller.

(Image via Vanity Fair.)

(Read the profile here.)

The Morning Show is about to drop its fourth season, so, to promote it, Jennifer Aniston is on the cover of the latest issue of Vanity Fair. While the series went utterly off the rails with its plot – Reese Witherspoon went to space?! – it’s apparently enough of a money maker for Apple TV+ to double down on. Season four will introduce Marion Cotillard, Boyd Holbrook, and Jeremy Irons to the cast, which makes me wonder just how big the budget is on this thing. Whatever’s going on, it’s working for someone.

For Aniston, a stalwart of TV who turned 56 this year, it’s given her some of the strongest reviews of her career. Amid this ridiculous soap that still believes itself to be prestige drama, Aniston is doing some stellar work as Alex, the news anchor who is determined to cling to her spot in the pecking order as misogyny, corruption, and treachery reign supreme (it probably doesn’t hurt that she earns a reported $2 million per-episode, making her one of the highest-paid actors in TV.) It’s a reminder that, by the end of Friends, Aniston was the most grounded performance and the one who made so much of the nonsensical stuff work.

Not much of this Vanity Fair piece is dedicated to The Morning Show. That might be because it would take a full corkboard of red string and ranting to explain what the hell is going on in that series. The big focus here is not just on Aniston the person but Aniston the friend. She has a tightknit circle around her that includes Jason Bateman, Jimmy Kimmel, and Sandra Bullock, and they are devoted to her. She cooks dinner for them every week. Bateman’s kids adore their auntie Jen. Aniston and Bullock helped one another out during difficult times and shared experiences like stalkers and a fear of flying.

It is certainly a contrast to that well-worn tabloid narrative of the childless cat lady that dominated so much of the Jen/Brad/Angelina story: the broken ex-wife with no children to bear versus the cunning vixen homewrecker (all while that creep was treated as though he had no agency in any of it. As always, f*ck that guy.) Here, we get a lot about Aniston’s gorgeous home and how it was designed to feel like a safe space away from the hustle of the outside world. Her image was always that of a minimalist clean cool girl before that became a thing. Yes, she has crystals and incense. As the writer notes, "her home has the anxiety-suppressing effect of a spa."

But don’t come to this profile expecting gossip. As the piece notes, the last time Vanity Fair did a big Jen cover story, it was her first big sit-down chat since her divorce and it was instantly obsessed over. The 2005 story, “The Unsinkable Jennifer Aniston,” featured what the piece describes as "an eat-your-heart out photo shoot" and was there to make Aniston look both resilient and like the embodiment of the high ground. That’s really deserving of its own Gossip Reading Club profile, to be honest, so I won’t delve into it too much here. Suffice to say, anyone looking for more of that juicy emotional vomit here will be disappointed.

"Since the media crucible of her 2005 divorce, Aniston has developed an extrasensory awareness of any conversation subject that is adjacent to SEO clickbait territory," writes Miller. That’s still evident to this day, such as when Aniston suddenly found herself involved in obviously “is it love” tabloid tattle with both Pedro Pascal and Barack Obama. Even she has no idea where the latter came from (side note but a lot of right-wingers are obsessed with this idea that the Obamas’ marriage is forever on the verge of ending.)

We do get a couple of lines on the tragic death of Matthew Perry, her friend and co-star who passed away in 2023 from accidental drowning caused by the acute effects of ketamine use. Five people have since been charged in connection with helping him to acquire the drug, including the doctor who allegedly bragged about being able to get as much money of out his patient as possible. Perry talk in his memoir about his addiction troubles and how the Friends cast often tried to help him through the cycle.

Says Aniston: “But it almost felt like we’d been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight. As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there’s a part of me that thinks this is better. I’m glad he’s out of that pain.” I’ve seen some people giving her flack for this statement but I think it’s very typical of those who have seen addiction first-hand. It’s brutal to watch and often leaves you feeling helpless. I don’t think it’s callous to note how solace from that pain can feel so necessary for all involved.

They also don’t ask Aniston to talk about Pitt. We get a tidbit about how she and Gwyneth Paltrow have gossiped about their shared ex but nothing more on him or his use of his former wife to help rehabilitate his image. Obviously, that was never going to be included here, and I don’t think Aniston should be interrogated more on that subject than the accused abuser himself. Again, f*ck that guy. Keeping Pitt mentions to a minimum definitely feels deliberate. A conscious exclusion, if you will. The focus is on Aniston now, the people who are loyal to her, and her own very calm and zen insight on the future.

All in all, it’s perfectly pleasant and not much else. Bogstandard celebrity profile stuff for subjects who don’t want to reveal too much but still be likeable. It’s another good example of how the best trained celebrities are incredibly good at talking lots while not giving away anything too revealing about themselves. “I think her superpower is that she could very easily be hard, but she’s incredibly open,” says Sandra Bullock, although that’s not on display for those who aren’t her BFFs. I’m not mad at it. Frankly, I’m glad that I may never again have to read a “Jen vs. Angie” piece in a major publication. I’m sure Aniston is as well.

Of course, every line in this piece was turned into SEO clickbait within 24 hours of its posting. The more things change…

Let me know if you’d like to see more pieces on current celebrity profiles/interviews as well as more retro stuff, and, as always, feel free to recommend stuff you’d love to see featured on this newsletter.