Jennifer Aniston forced to deny 'fabricated' story about split from Justin Theroux in wake of Brangelina divorce

Jennifer Aniston (Getty)

InTouch Weekly has struck again and Jennifer Aniston has been just as quick to shut the magazine down.

Without doing anything, Aniston’s name was trending for two days and her Friends memes repurposed to portray her as celebrating Angelina Jolie’s decision to file for divorce from Brad Pitt. On Wednesday, Aniston awoke to find her grinning face across the cover of the New York Post under the headline: “Brangelina 2004 - 2016.”

Then InTouch turned their attention to her relationship. The entertainment magazine’s most recent front page claims the actress and her husband Justin Theroux, 45 have split after an “explosive fight”.

It comes three months after the magazine falsely claimed she was pregnant with a “miracle” baby in a front page that was widely replicated and celebrated by fans across the world.

That was until representative for Aniston, 47 dismissed the claim as untrue, adding: “Shame on InTouch.”

Aniston’s reps quickly stepped in to dismiss the claim, telling The Independent: "The story in InTouch is a complete fabrication. "​

The furore surrounding Jolie’s decision to divorce has grown to such a degree that People Magazine has confirmed plans to publish two print editions in one week, both with the Pitt-Jolie divorce as the leading story.

Aniston responded to false reports of her pregnancy in June with a blistering comment piece denouncing a tabloid culture that presents women who are single or without children as incomplete.

Wynter Mitchell (@wyntermitchell) “Pop Rocket” host, digital consultant and former entertainment editor for US Weekly, told the Independent stories of this nature about Aniston will continue to appear because of how well they shift copies of tabloid magazines off news stands.

“Her life choices, which any woman is allowed to make, have been put on a pedestal by readers," she explained. "The editorialisation of her journey: hard work, superstardom, fairytale marriage, nasty divorce, finding love again, is an arc many can relate to. It fits the ‘celebrity’ narrative that a natural progression in her relationships would include children.”

Mitchell said magazines such as InTouch stand to make up to $2 million from these covers.