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Fans applaud Quinta Brunson for how she supported Jennifer Aniston during an emotional interview moment

“Quinta handled this masterfully."

@variety/TikTok

The way Brunson comforted Aniston speaks volumes.

For those not familiar with Variety's “Actors on Actors,” it’s a live interview series where two actors discuss various aspects of their craft and career. Often, actors will be paired together because of a common thread. Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy during the height of Barbenheimer, for example. Or Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt—both from “The Devil Wears Prada.”

So it’s no surprise that two comedy queens, Jennifer Aniston and Quinta Brunson, would be paired together for the latest “Actors on Actors” segment. What people are astounded by, however, is the way Brunson handled a very serious moment.

At one point during the conversation, a producer off camera suggested that Brunson ask Aniston “what it’s like to watch ‘Friends’ now.”

This clearly struck a chord with Aniston, who, already tearing up, said “don’t make me cry.”

Noticing this Brunson said in a soft voice, “You’re already crying. Do you want a minute?,” before assuring her “We don’t have to talk about [this].”

@varietymagazine Jennifer Aniston gets emotional when asked about "Friends." #ActorsOnActors ♬ original sound - Variety

Tilting her head up to not let the tears fall, Aniston replied “No, no, sorry, I just started thinking about...” before Brunson quickly said “I know. Yeah.”

It’s evident that Aniston’s emotional reaction is triggered by the loss of her former “Friends” cast mate Matthew Perry, who died October 28, 2023. The pair’s friendship remained strong even after the show ended in 2004—Perry even revealed that Aniston was the member of their group who reached out to him “the most” during his sobriety journey.

All this to say, Aniston was understandably triggered by the question. Brunson saw that, and acted accordingly. She once again offered “we don’t have to talk about it,” waited while Aniston grabbed a tissue to compose herself, then masterfully guided the conversation to a joke.

“So, Jen, ‘Friends’ is turning 30…and you are turning 30…When you were a baby on that show, you were so advanced…your fine motor skills were insane”

Viewers applauded the “Abbott Elementary” star for “taking care” of Aniston’s emotional wellbeing.

”Quinta gets props for saying to Jennifer, ‘We don’t have to go there if you don’t want to.’ I get why the producers were trying to create that buzzworthy moment, but I also appreciate Quinta’s willingness to derail it for Jennifer’s sake,” one person wrote on Youtube

“Quinta’s little ‘I know’ — it was so simple but so kind and empathetic,” added another.

Over on TikTok, comments were just as complimentary.

“Quinta handled this masterfully,” wrote one person.

Another echoed, “How Quinta handled that- that’s why she’s where she’s at.”

Seeing people take care of one another never gets old.

You can watch the full conversation between Brunson and Aniston below:

This article originally appeared on 6.9.24

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Jennifer Aniston’s tan on InStyle cover called out as problematic

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The practice of photoshopping celebrities when they appear on the cover of magazines can be problematic. Normal "imperfections" are airbrushed out, waists are slimmed, and sometimes even whole body parts are replaced. And now, skin colors are being swapped out, too. The October issue of InStyle magazine features five different cover photos of Jennifer Aniston recreating iconic beauty looks from the '60s and '70s. But some of the images feature the actress rocking noticeably darker skin, and we're not talking a shade or two of a "healthy glow."

The photos have the masses divided. Some fans are not happy about the airbrushing, saying the actress was darkened to the point where she's offensive.

"I get that these covers are supposed to be channeling the glamour of yesteryear but that 'glamour' routinely marginalized women of color for white women (whether made tan or otherwise). Seeing Jennifer Aniston several shades darker than normal reminds me of that legacy. In 2019, if you want a brown-skinned woman on your cover, put a brown-skinned woman on your cover," one person pointed out on Instagram.

Another person called out Hollywood's habit of using white people to play people of color. "When we asked for south Asian representation in the media this isn't what we meant," the user wrote.

One person just simply wrote, "Blackface," but they weren't alone in the comparison. "You can totally 'stretch your boundaries' without doing brown face though so……" someone commented.

"I didn't know she was a person of color," another person joked.

Others called Aniston's airbrushing unnecessary and insulting. She already looks great, why guild the lily?

"Jen is an icon, and loved by so many. She doesn't need the heavy airbrushing and 10 shades too dark 'tan' I suppose magazines such as yours assume we're too blind to notice? Trust me we'd have a lot more respect for you if you just left the heavy handed airbrushing out of your covers," someone wrote on Instagram.

Others came to the "Friends" star's defense, claiming that the tan is just a tan.

"It's called having a tan, or using bronzer. Get over it," an Instagram user said.

"Hmmmm so looking healthy and happy with a sun kissed glow is worth criticising?? Good God people, Jennifer is stunning and graces that magazine cover," one person posted.

"People are allowed to wear bronze and spray tans… whats ya issue.. we come in different colors other then fair and porcelain," another person wrote.

Ironically, the article inside the magazine discusses how Aniston fears that social media hurts young people who are trying to figure themselves out. "They're doing it through someone else's lens, which has been filtered and changed… and then it's 'like me, don't like me, did I get liked?' There's all this comparing and despairing," Aniston told InStyle.

Sometimes a tan is just a tan. Other times, it's indicative that the beauty industry conciders certain ethnicities "on trend," yet takes minimal effort to include the people who actually are of that group. Regardless, InStyle should go easy on the airbrush next time.

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After years of nonstop coverage of her romantic life, Jennifer Aniston is fed up.

She's pushing back for herself and for others against societal expectations.

For more than two decades, Jennifer Aniston's love life has been a mainstay of gossip magazines — and she is sooo not having it anymore.

In an essay published at the Huffington Post, the 47-year-old actress fired back at members of the press who've intruded into her life all these years with rumors about hook-ups, break-ups, secret marriages, and babies splashed across their front pages.

"Let me start by saying that addressing gossip is something I have never done," she begins. "I don’t like to give energy to the business of lies, but I wanted to participate in a larger conversation that has already begun and needs to continue."

Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images for smartwater.

"For the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up."

And really, who can blame her? Looking back at how every relationship she's been in since beginning her acting career has been dissected and become the subject of speculation has got to be exhausting, plain and simple.

From her marriage to Brad Pitt (2000-05) to her relationships with Vince Vaughn (2005-06) and John Mayer (2008-09) to her relationship and eventual marriage to Justin Theroux (2011-present), Aniston's dating life is treated as some sort of highly scrutinized public record. It's ridiculous.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston arrive at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Photo by Boris Horvat/AFP/Getty Images.

What's even worse: These stories aren't even accurate.

InTouch Weekly has made a number of false claims about Aniston's love life. In 2012, the magazine claimed she was pregnant (she wasn't). In just the past month, the outlet has published seven (yes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) stories saying the same thing. For more on the constant tabloid speculation, check out this list Upworthy put together in 2014.

What's with the obsession?

In 2014, Aniston addressed the barrage of pregnancy rumors, explaining that her worth as a woman is not tied to whether she has kids.

In an interview on the "Today" show, Aniston dismissed the idea that there's some universal checklist women need to meet. Society's expectations are unfair, and she wasn't going to play that game anymore.

"It is always such an issue of, 'Are you married yet?' or 'Did you have your babies yet?' It's just constant," she told Carson Daly in the interview. "I don't have this sort of checklist of things that have to be done, and if they're not checked then I've failed some part of my feminism, or my being a woman, or my worth or my value as a woman, because I haven't birthed a child. I've birthed a lot of things, and I feel like I've mothered many things. I don't think it's fair to put that pressure on people."

Aniston and Vince Vaughn attend the French Open in 2006. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images.

These expectations, created by society and the media, affect all of us, not just Hollywood celebrities.

The message being pushed and upheld — that women are only "complete" if they marry and have children — is toxic.

A woman who is single without children at age 50 is just as valid as a married 25-year-old with three kids, who is just as valid as an 18-year-old single mom.

There is no one right way to be a woman. That's the very core of feminism.

Aniston attends the 2011 premiere of "Horrible Bosses." Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images.

"We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child," writes Aniston at Huffington Post, echoing what she told Daly over a year ago.

"We get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies. That decision is ours and ours alone. Let’s make that decision for ourselves and for the young women in this world who look to us as examples. Let’s make that decision consciously, outside of the tabloid noise. We don’t need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own 'happily ever after' for ourselves."

You are complete, just as you are.

Really, though, how many more times do women have to say things like this before society takes their words to heart? Here's hoping this will be the time the message finally sticks.

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