Here's What Jennifer Aniston's Exes Have Said About The Actor

Jennifer Aniston has been famous for her entire adult life, which means long-term fans have experienced her entire dating history in real time. Though the star has had many notable relationships, including two marriages, as well as a few high-profile flings, she has not yet found her everlasting love. As of this writing, Aniston is reportedly dating hypnotist Jim Curtis, but she has kept mum on the relationship thus far.

Here we take a look at what Aniston's exes have publicly said about her post-breakup. Some exes — particularly the actor's earliest ones — have remained tight-lipped about the A-lister, though. For example, Aniston's first public boyfriend, Charlie Schlatter, hasn't dished about his famous former flame. The two began dating while they were starring in the short-lived 1990 "Ferris Bueller" television show, in which Schlatter played Aniston's onscreen brother. Aniston has also never commented on the relationship — which only became public decades later when former writer's assistant turned GQ honcho Jim Nelson spilled the beans.

Daniel McDonald, whom Aniston dated for five years, also kept quiet about their relationship, even once it was over. Aniston once told The New York Times that McDonald was her "first love." She continued, saying, "He would have been the one. But I was 25, and I was stupid." McDonald died in 2007 and kept a low profile while he was alive. As for Jennifer Aniston's subsequent exes, they have dished to the press.

Justin Theroux is Jennifer Aniston's most recent husband, and her longest romantic relationship, as of this writing. Though the pair first met via mutual friend Ben Stiller in 2007, they only became romantically involved after being reunited in 2010 for the filming of "Wanderlust," in which both actors appeared. By 2011, they had taken their relationship public, and in 2012, they became engaged. When Aniston wed Theroux in August 2015, many fans felt — and deeply hoped — she had finally found her perfect match. Unfortunately, the couple announced their separation in February 2018.

Aniston and Theroux continued to be photographed together in public after their split, which emphasized their ongoing friendship despite no longer being together as a couple. Theroux even continued to post birthday tributes for his ex and spoke about Aniston in a 2021 interview with Esquire. "We don't talk every day, but we call each other," he revealed. "We FaceTime. We text. ... I'm sincere when I say that I cherish our friendship. We can not be together and still bring each other joy and friendship." He went on to praise Aniston for her sense of humor and clarified that his split with Aniston was not salacious, as suggested by the tabloids. "Like it or not, we didn't have that dramatic split, and we love each other," he said.

We may know a bit too much about Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer's past relationship, thanks to Mayer's tendency to overshare and lack of respect for previous partners' privacy. While Aniston made out better than one of Mayer's other exes — Jessica Simpson — she was still a large topic of conversation when he gave back-to-back interviews to Rolling Stone and Playboy in 2010. Mayer has since expressed regret for his comments but, as we all know, the internet is forever.

"I've never really gotten over it. It was one of the worst times of my life," Mayer told Rolling Stone of his split from Aniston, whom he dated on and off in 2008 and 2009. The singer took more of a dig at his ex — specifically at her age (she is eight years his senior) — in an interview with Playboy in 2010. "In some ways I wish I could be with her. But I can't change the fact that I need to be 32," he said. Mayer went on to reveal, "One of the most significant differences between us was that I was tweeting. ... The brunt of her success came before TMZ and Twitter. I think she's still hoping it goes back to 1998. She saw my involvement in technology as courting distraction."

Mayer did, however, have nicer things to say the first time the pair split in August 2008. "Jennifer Aniston is the smartest, most sophisticated person I think I have ever met," he told People.

Many years have passed since supermodel Paul Sculfor and Jennifer Aniston's 5-month relationship in 2007, but the two apparently stay in touch. In April 2025, Sculfor spoke about his former beau in an exclusive interview with Hello! magazine, in which he also discussed a second famous ex-girlfriend, Cameron Diaz. "We still message now and then," he said, referring to both women. "Obviously we're all married and grown up now, so I just message like I message a lot of people — to say: 'Hey, how are you doing? I hope everything's fine.' Friendly stuff."

In a 2024 interview with The Sunday Times, he discussed the attention he received from the paparazzi while he was dating the famous actors. "It got intense, silly," he said. "I'd be taking the bins out in an old tracksuit and there'd be a guy with a camera in my face? Come on!" The former model lives a much quieter life nowadays, alongside his wife, a nutritionist, and two young daughters.

It is not exactly rare for Hollywood actors to date their co-stars, but some of them make more of a habit of it than others. As it happens, Jennifer Aniston has a history of dating her co-stars, including Vince Vaughn. Aniston and the actor sparked up a romance soon after filming began on their 2005 romcom "The Break-Up." "She's awesome," Vaughn told People around that time. "She has just a wonderful warmth and [likability] about her."

Aniston and Vaughn dated from the summer of 2005 until the end of 2006, officially confirming their rumored October split in early December (via People). They never publicly discussed the relationship while it was happening, but rumors and media attention abounded. Vaughn alluded to as much in a 2015 interview with Playboy. "For me personally — and I think most well-known actors who are together feel this way — I never enjoyed the paparazzi side of it," he said (via E! Online). "You like someone and you're spending time with them; that's separate and that was all fine. But I really spent most of that time finding ways not to be drawn into the attention." For what it is worth, Vaughan did at least make it a point to call Aniston herself "great."

Even though it has been decades since Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were together, many fans still get deep into their feels thinking about the pair's long-ago breakup. Luckily for Pitt and Aniston, they seem to be well over it and are actually on very good terms. "You know, Brad and I are buddies," Aniston told Howard Stern in 2021 (via E! Online). "Like, we're friends and we speak."

Aniston and Pitt first started dating in 1998, garnering as much attention as any celebrity couple ever has. They married two years later, but split in 2005, after only five years of marriage. Pitt began dating Angelina Jolie very soon after, having met while he and Aniston were still married. We may never know the exact timeline of how things went down, but we do know there were other reasons for Pitt and Aniston's breakup.

Pitt made waves in 2011 when he told Parade magazine he was not living an "interesting life" while married to Aniston. "I think that my marriage [to actress Jennifer Aniston] had something to do with it. Trying to pretend the marriage was something that it wasn't," he added. He subsequently clarified his remarks via a statement provided to E! News. "Jen is an incredibly giving, loving, and hilarious woman who remains my friend. It is an important relationship I value greatly. The point I was trying to make is not that Jen was dull, but that I was becoming dull to myself — and that, I am responsible for," Pitt said. In later interviews, the actor has also referred to Aniston as "good people" and "a good friend."

There is no denying that Tate Donovan was one of Jennifer Aniston's most significant romantic partners, even if the pair's relationship never received the kind of media coverage that Aniston experienced when involved with Justin Theroux, Brad Pitt, or even Vince Vaughn. This allowed the couple a bit more space to breathe, but not too much. In fact, Donovan was reluctant to get involved with Aniston after their first date due to the already mounting paparazzi presence surrounding her. He eventually succumbed to Aniston's charms, leading to a nearly three-year relationship (via Us Weekly).

Though "Friends" was exploding when Donovan was introduced to Aniston in 1995, the "Damages" actor maintains he had no clue who Aniston was when mutual friends hooked them up. The relationship was serious (they lived together and even shared a dog) but by 1998, things had fizzled. Unfortunately, Donovan was in the midst of a guest arc on "Friends" while the breakup was unfolding. "Everyone was so supportive, but it was hard. It's like going to class when you're in high school and you've broken up with the girl who you sat next to and... argh, it's tough. But it makes you a pro," Donovan told The Independent.

Donovan has not said much more about Aniston but once told E! News that she "looked gorgeous" on a red carpet, and called her and another ex, Sandra Bullock, "very sweet" after the women sang his praises in Interview (via TooFab).

If it feels far-fetched that Tate Donovan had not seen a single episode of "Friends" well into 1995, then how about this? Donovan is not Aniston's only ex-boyfriend who walked into things with blinders on. Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz also claims to have had no prior knowledge of Jennifer Aniston's resume before they were introduced. Equally interesting, the rockstar ended up dating both Aniston and Courteney Cox. 

Duritz and Aniston met at Hollywood hotspot The Viper Room in 1995, around the time "Friends" was becoming a big topic of discussion around office water coolers everywhere. "A bunch of my friends lied to me and told me she had a crush on me," Duritz said in "Dark Side of the '90s" (via Entertainment Tonight). "Those same friends lied to her and told her I had a crush on her." Their friends' scheming resulted in a brief relationship.

Like Aniston's other exes, Duritz has only positive things to say about her. "She was really nice, really funny, really pretty, those were pretty good requirements for me and also she liked me," Duritz said in the documentary. "It didn't last very long, but she's a nice girl."