‘It was all rather embarrassing’: Awkward timing of mag cover after Jennifer Aniston split

THE timing couldn’t have been worse for this magazine cover, leaving the editor feeling ‘rather embarrassed’. But some say it was all a calculated plan by Jennifer Aniston.

JENNIFER Aniston’s hatred of New York doomed her marriage to Justin Theroux, friends say. The actress had tried to move to Manhattan after she fell for Justin, 46, who owns a place in Greenwich Village, but Jen, 49, “couldn’t deal with the paparazzi and the pokey apartment,” and retreated back to the privacy of her sprawling Bel Air estate.

“Jennifer is more comfortable in Los Angeles with her close-knit group of friends,” said a source, adding, “But Justin doesn’t feel as at home in LA, nor with Jennifer’s friends, he loves New York, and the edgier crowd in the city.”

While the couple, who married in 2015 after dating for five years, spent a lot of time apart for work, he began taking more time alone in NYC.

The source added, “As they spent more and more time apart, their problems became bigger. He’s very focused on himself and his craft. And Jen is not the easygoing girl she wants the public to think she is. She isn’t as happy, and she is far more complicated.”

Jen and Justine wanted different things, friends say. Picture: Christopher Polk

Putting further strain on the relationship, Justin’s career is busier than ever with upcoming films, On the Basis of Sex, Mute and The Spy Who Dumped Me. Jennifer, who still earns millions from product deals and Friends re-runs, has been taking on fewer big roles — her next movie is a comedy called Dumplin.

They announced their split just prior to the weekend, which was reportedly initiated by Justin.

Uncomfortably, Jen is on the cover of Architectural Digest’s brand new issue, showing off her and Justin’s supposed Bel Air “love nest.” The article swoons, “Jennifer … crafts a scene of pure domestic bliss with husband Justin Theroux.”

She coos in the piece, “I look around at my husband and my dogs and our home, and there’s nowhere else I want to be.”

Like mama always said, “Never announce your divorce until the Architectural Digest cover story drops.”

— bobby finger (@bobbyfinger) February 15, 2018

Online magazine Slate even suggested the Architectural Digest article was a big clue that the celeb marriage was ending because “celebrities show off their homes in design magazines when they’re thinking about selling them.”

Rather tellingly, there was no sign of Justin at the home. And on Friday, as Architectural Digest editor Amy Astley hosted an NYC cocktail party to celebrate the issue, “Everyone’s phones started pinging with a news alert that Jen and Justin had split. It was all rather embarrassing. The magazine editors had no idea.”

Jennifer Aniston on the cover of the March 2018 issue of Architectual Digest.