Brad Pitt speaks out to support gay marriage


Brad Pitt says every American should have the right to marry whoever they want.

The Hollywood actor – who raises six children, Maddox, nine, Pax, seven, Zahara, six, Shiloh, five, and two-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, with partner Angelina Jolie – is pleased New York State has legalised same-sex marriage and now wants the rest of the US to follow suit.

He said: “It is encouraging that New York has joined the movement to grant equal marriage rights to its citizens. But it is each American’s Constitutional right to marry the person they love, no matter what state they inhabit.

“No state should decide who can marry and who cannot. Thanks to the tireless work of so many, someday soon this discrimination will end and every American will be able to enjoy their equal right to marriage.”

Brad – who was once married to Jennifer Aniston – has previously said he won’t wed Angelina until gay marriage is legal everywhere.

He said: “I have love in my life, a soul mate – absolutely. When someone asked me why Angie and I don’t get married, I replied, ‘Maybe we’ll get married when it’s legal for everyone else.’

“I stand by that, although I took a lot of flak for saying it – hate mail from religious groups. They say gay marriage ruins families and hurts kids. Well, I’ve had the privilege of seeing my gay friends being parents and watching their kids grow up in a loving environment.”

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have to "hide behind some walls" to escape their celebrity status.

The ‘Tree of Life’ star – who raises children, Maddox, nine, Pax, seven, Zahara, six, Shiloh five and two-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne with the 36-year-old actress – thinks he now has his lifestyle down “pretty well” after spending 10 years getting used to being known as one of the world’s most famous actors.

He said: “It took me a good decade of hiding in my house and not going outside to even, like, get my arms around this idea of celebrity, where suddenly people are looking for you to pick your nose or get a shot of you kissing some woman.

“It’s a very discombobulating thing. But Angie and I have got it down pretty well. We have to hide behind some walls, but we’re good.”

Despite being happy with his domestic life, the 47-year-old hunk still struggles with his views on religion – having been brought up in the mid-west of the US, which well-known for its Christian views.

He told the Guardian newspaper: “I grew up in the f**king buckle of the Bible belt.

“This idea of an all-powerful, watching being that’s controlling our moves and giving us a chance to say he’s the greatest so we get into some eternal heaven – that just doesn’t work for me, man. I got a real problem with it.

“I see the value of religion and what it offers to people as a cushion and I don’t want to step on that. On the other hand, I’ve seen where I grew up how it becomes separatist, and I get quite aggravated and antagonistic.”

Frost Interviews: Angelina Jolie

angelinajolieFrost loves Angelina Jolie, she’s talented and open, an amazing mother and a brilliant role model. For her searing honesty, read on….

On Brad Pitt: I met this amazing person, and we realized we had very similar views on how we wanted to live our lives. It’s happened quickly, with so many children. Yesterday, picking up the kids from school, Brad turned around in the car, and there were three of them. He couldn’t stop laughing. We love them and are having a great time.

On Brad with the kids:
“I keep telling Brad he owes me. He’s had a few months off in one of the most beautiful cities in the world with the children. And he’s such an artist and goes to the stone yards and the art exhibits, and loves being in such a cultural place.”

On her busy schedule: “I love it. I like being active, I love being busy and answering a lot of questions. And the children, well, that’s not work. It never is. They are always a pleasure.”

On being open with the media:
I like being able to be really honest. I’ll share everything always because it’s what I want. It helps me continue to do my work that way. And I’ve got nothing to hide and I like sharing with people and I like it when people come up to me and tell me things about themselves. So I’ll never change. And of course there are always going to be things that sound weird or aren’t explained so it’ll probably just get worse, but that’s okay.

On visiting Iraq: Well I came to the region about 6 months ago, I first went to Syria because I work with U.N.H.C.R. and there are 1.5 million refugees in Syria alone from Iraq and while I was there, I went inside and met with some internally displaced people. And this trip is to get a better picture of the internally displaced people and to discuss with the local government, with our government, with the NGOs and with local people, the situation and try to understand what is happening, because there are over 2 million internally displaced people and there doesn’t seem to be a real coherent plan to help them and there’s lots of good will and lot’s of discussion –but there seem to be a lot of uh — just a lot of talk at the moment and a lot of pieces need to be put together. So, trying to figure out what they are.

On plastic surgery: “I haven’t had anything done and I don’t think I will. But if it makes somebody happy then that’s up to them. I’m not in somebody else’s skin to know what makes them feel better about themselves. But I don’t plan to do it myself.”

On nudity: The thing is, [if] it’s important to the film. I never did one before because I thought I had to. It’s not a big deal to be naked. I think it’s a bigger deal to be emotionally naked. I think a woman’s breasts are a woman’s breasts; they don’t freak me out or shock me. It’s just not a big deal. I think it’s appropriate to the story.

On why she acts “I desperately need to communicate with people through films. It’s why I’m alive.”

On her first time working with Johnny Depp: “It turns out we are both a bit reclusive. . .That’s why our paths had never crossed — neither of us attends many parties or goes out very much. Neither of us seems to take ourselves too seriously. And maybe there’s something about being in a place in your life where your family is so central to you that you have a good perspective on it all . . . We got together as families . . . Brad, Vanessa and all the kids; that was lovely. Just family stuff.”

Playing Tag With Cheryl Cole And Jennifer Aniston

Do you know, I’m almost embarrassed to post this, but it’ll be interesting – promise, even if it’s just for the top 10 further down.

Years of writing news stories and articles. Flogging over a hot keyboard to gain journalism qualifications. It means absolutely sweet FA if no one reads the results of the writer’s Herculean labours.

Journalism, as my colleague Holly Thomas covered recently, is an over-subscribed business. Writing seems to be something a lot of people think they can do.

Let me tell you guys, ranting over Twitter while misspelling everything ain’t journalism. But everyone’s out there, blogging, tweeting, Facebooking (or whatever today’s adjective for being on Facebook is) and rambling on for 18 pages – FRONT AND BACK!

Must be the glamour that attracts people to writing. The joys of getting rained on, on a bitterly frozen Arctic day covering an escaped prisoner from Feltham Young Offenders, waiting for the police to acknowledge your press card while reluctant witnesses hurtle off down the street pursued by journos and TV crew.

Yeah, I’ve done that, and covered a few sporting occasions, which can be another joy. Coaxing comments out of monosyllabic players and managers after they’ve just been on the receiving end of a brutal defeat.

On the bright side, I haven’t yet been clouted. Surprisingly, neither has my friend Emma who works in local news and sometimes has the unenviable task of speaking to grieving family members in search of a story.

As well as newspapers and magazines, I also write web copy for a sports website. Ah, the fun of being called a disgrace to journalism and a London-based hack on the internet. Admittedly, I’ll concede the second point.

Trouble is, that sporting web copy? Often live and very pressured. The moment you press the button, you’re out in the ether. Doesn’t matter if you spot it immediately and correct it, umpteen people around the world have seen it and already – rightly – commented on what a twat you are.

Now you may say that this is contradictory. How can I complain about journalists not being noticed and then whine about it when they are?

Fair point.

Truth is, from a purely personal point of view, I qualified in News Writing, Media Law and Shorthand among others. So while sport has been kind to me in the respect that I’ve been able to keep most of the roof over my head and occasionally eat, I also like to think I have a wider range to offer.

And that’s what Frost does. As a writer and editor, I have a lovely medium to rattle on about pretty much anything for your enjoyment and edification.  Which brings me to the point of this article 13 paragraphs on.

While we have thousands of regular readers, getting brand new, shiny people to pop in to Frost and read us, and hopefully stay to dip in to our box of delights is all about the tags. Those little words and hooks that grab your attention – even if you didn’t want it to. Sorry, but that’s what we do. Engage.

So with that in mind, Google’s most searched terms of 2010 were apparently, in order:

1. chatroulette

2. ipad

3. justin bieber

4. nicki minaj

5. friv

6. myxer

7. katy perry

8. twitter

9. gamezer

10. facebook.

Which is worrying, because as a duffer, I haven’t heard of some of those.

And falling faster than – oh, I don’t know, something really heavy and inert, say a cartoon safe – in 2010, was:

1. swine flu

2. wamu

3. new moon

4. mininova

5. susan boyle

6. slumdog millionaire

7. circuit city

8. myspace layouts

9. michael jackson

10. national city bank.

So, theoretically, if I add all those top 10 most popular terms into an article and tag them myself, (hey, look at that! I just did!)  It should garner some attention.

And then looking into my crystal ball for 2011… Actually, why bother? If I just throw in say, X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, Doctor Who, Cheryl Cole, Lady Gaga, Brighton Rock, Manchester United, Barcelona, Jose Mourinho, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, oh, and romcom, I think that’ll do it.

Welcome to Frost. Thank you for stopping by. We love you and please feel free to look around. And come back and tell your friends!

Or you can just wait for them to stumble on the same set of tags and blog/tweet/facebook each other about us. I’m easy either way.