Jennifer Aniston
Gossip

That's the latest word on this rumored romance.

And it comes to us from The Hangover star himself.

Although they had a romantic dinner at Il Cantorini in New York City earlier this month, Bradley Cooper insists he and Jennifer Aniston are, yes, “just friends.”

“She’s a friend of mine,” Bradley said.

“Simply, simply, just a friend. She’s someone who is super, super known. If someone says hello to her, it’s given that he’s fallen in love with her. So, no. No."

"She’s a very, interesting woman, but she’s simply a friend,” he said, according to E!

Well, that officially clears up the rumor-filled relationship status of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Aniston in no uncertain terms ... or does it!?

We appreciate the attempt to stay under the radar, especially in the early stages of the relationship if they are dating, but we're not buying it!

Thoughts? Are they dating and trying to play it cool, or are they really just friends? And do Bradley and Jen make a good couple?

Romantic buzz continues to build around Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper.

Days after sharing a romantic dinner together at Il Cantinori restaurant in NYC, Star reports that Jen's gushing to pals that she's just so into The Hangover star!

"Jen is really excited," an insider says. "She feels a connection to Bradley."

That was clear during their June 18 dinner date, according to reports.

Throughout the three-hour meal, Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper shared food and wine, laughed at one another's jokes and acted like two kids falling in love.

Cooperston continues to generate celebrity gossip buzz.

"I went over to say hi to them, and I noticed they were holding hands under the table because they let go to shake my hand," an eyewitness reported.

While the idea of putting the moves on Jen could be overwhelming for some potential suitors - after all, her romantic history is so legendary that even she makes fun of it - Bradley Cooper could turn out to be the right man for the job.

"Bradley knows that Jen comes with baggage," says a source, who may or may not be a real person. "But he's not denying he has feelings for her."

What do you think? Do Jen and Bradley make a good couple?

Is Jennifer Aniston ready to begin a new chapter of her rocky love life?

Several weeks after she and Bradley Cooper flirted at a party for her movie Management, the pair enjoyed a cozy late-night dinner together at the romantic Italian restaurant Il Cantinori in Manhattan on Thursday, People reports.

"It was a date," says a source close to the actress. "She is taking it slow. She is obviously looking for love, but is not about to rush into anything."

When the two met up earlier this spring, pals of both dismissed romance rumors. "I am single," said Cooper,  who fans remember from Wedding Crashers and more recently as one of the dudes behind hilarious The Hangover quotes.

He did say he finds rumors linking him to Jennifer Aniston "flattering."

Are Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Aniston coupling up?

Bradley Cooper added that he's looking "for humor, great personality, intelligence, inner and outer beauty" in a woman. Oh, and the one must? "She has to like my dogs [Samson and Charlotte]. My dogs and I come in  package."

That shouldn't be a problem for Jen, a canine lover with two dogs of her own, Norman and Dolly. The actress spent most of the spring shooting the romantic comedy The Baster in New York, while getting past her split with some douchebag.

Thoughts? Do Jen and Brad ... ley make a cute couple?

Seriously, Star ought to start publishing itself as fan fiction.

According to the venerable celebrity gossip tabloid, whose writers really need a raise, after making secret plans for a 1 a.m. rendezvous, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston got together at a New York City hotel and spent two hours - alone!

In a "blockbuster exclusive" - which is pretty easy to snag when you make up the story - Star reveals, thanks to a tell-all interview with the driver who brought Jen to the Gramercy Park Hotel, that the ex-couple went to great lengths not to be seen.

This explains why there were no photos of Jen and Brad together ... just a cover featuring two separate photos made to look like they were together.

"It was well planned so no one would see them," says the anonymous driver, who claims that the pair spent more than two hours alone together in the back of the Gramercy's nearly deserted 18th floor Private Roof Club and Garden.

"They were really careful not to be spotted."

This isn't the first time Brad has engaged in a made-up rendezvous concocted by Star Magazine that ended with him getting to see Jennifer Aniston nude.

They were not even remotely shuttled around New York City in a black SUV on April 23, sipping Starbucks and chatting in separate cities with other people.

Knowing how Angelina Jolie reacted when she first caught Brad talking to Jen on the phone recently, insiders say she's not going to be happy about this.

Well, she probably be wouldn't if it were true anyway.

"When Angelina finds out about this reunion, she'll go ballistic," says a fictitious source, assessing the situation with great expertise and wisdom.

There's a new celebrity war raging. Well, a celebrity news war.

Us Weekly has launched an offensive against InTouch Weekly, using two full pages of their new issue to rip their rivals' bogus Brangelina gossip over the years.

Us reproduced 21 InTouch covers dating back to 2005, then shreds the fake stories one by one, killing its celebrity gossip counterpart over their articles.

Some of which are pretty great. At least three wedding reports and five accounts of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie splitting up, with some inventive Jennifer Aniston stories tossed in for good measure, made it into the collage of lies.

InTouch fired back: "We are flattered that our competition pays so much attention to InTouch that they were willing to devote a 2-page spread to us."

Mmm. They've got a point there, but come on, look at these headlines. After you've blatantly lied 17 times, doesn't the 18th fail to carry the same weight?

All we know is somewhere, Star Magazine is celebrating for not being called out.

Click to enlarge the hilarious photo montage below ...

John Mayer being a Grade A premium douchebag would seem to be reason enough for him to get dumped by goddess Jennifer Aniston, but the UK edition of Star is claiming there was a more specific reason for the couple's recent breakup.

In its new issue, the magazine claims Jen was riled by John’s near-constant updating of his Twitter page when he also claimed he was too busy to call her.

“Every few hours, sometimes minutes, he’d update with some stupid line. And in her mind, she was like: ‘He has time for all this Twittering, but he can’t send me a text, an email, make a call?’ So she called him and ended it,” a source says.

Like everything in Star, we assume this is not at all true - especially after the first reports of the couple's breakup suggested that he dumped her. However, this is a great thing to make up if you're going to. At least their writers are improving.

You know John Mayer would totally be that guy, too, Twatting random thoughts no one cares about while neglecting his real-life relationships. At least post some half-naked pics of your girl bending over like Ashton Kutcher, John.

They wowed Hollywood with a high-profile Oscar date.

It turned out to be one of their last.

Posing arm-in-arm for photographs in what was their official coming out as a couple after a year of dating each other off and on, Jennifer Aniston and the douchebag she brought as a date were the talk of the Academy Awards.

Then Aniston headed to Europe to promote Marley & Me and John Mayer stayed in L.A. to work on his lame music. Just days after Aniston returned, they ended it.

"They had some disagreements and decided to not continue to see each other," a source tells People. "Jen is moving on with her life like always. She seems happy."

A second source says Mayer broke up with Aniston after she returned from Europe. Either way, it's not the first time Aniston, 40, and Mayer, 31, have split.

In August of 2007, Mayer held an impromptu press conference outside his gym in New York, explaining to celeb gossip media: "I ended a relationship to be alone because I don't want to waste somebody's time if something's not right."

Lately the couple seemed happy, though in a recent interview, Jennifer Aniston said she didn't believe any relationship was perfect or was meant to last a lifetime.

"Whoever said that every relationship has to last forever?" she was quoted as saying in the U.K.'s Mail on Sunday's You magazine. "That's hoping for too much."

Oh well. We're sure the d-bag will nail some other iconic Hollywood babe soon enough. Click to enlarge some recent pics of John and Jen, together and apart:

[Photo Credits: Splash News Online]

Jennifer Aniston, posing for a 2009 calendar in which she doesn't wear a bra in the shower? HOT!

There's no debating the beauty of this actress in most settings, especially when she lets the water run down her body and over her breasts and... sorry, where were we?

Right. We can all agree that Aniston is an attractive individual - but is she more attractive based on what style she wears her hair?

You tell us!

Which hairstyle do you prefer on Jennifer Aniston?

Two classic beauties, Rachel Getting Married star Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Aniston, dazzled at the Academy Awards in similar cream-colored gowns.

Which of the two actresses do you think dressed the best? Tell us in the informal poll below (and don't judge Jen's fashion by the douchebag date) ...

Who looked better at the Oscars?

Someone must have watched He's Just Not That Into You this weekend!

Grey's Anatomy star Chyler Leigh, who already has two children with husband Nathan West, is currently expecting her third - and has an interesting name picked out when their little girl arrives in May, she recently told The Insider.

"We're going with Aniston," the 26-year-old actress said.

Chyler Leigh says she is going to name her daughter Aniston. Big Friends fan? Looking to combine Anne and Madison? Just trying to be different? [Photos: Splash News]

Who knows what the Grey's Anatomy star thinking or even if she's serious. But in the grand scheme of celebrity baby names, well, it's no Bronx Mowgli.

The bar has been set pretty low. So low it will be hard for anyone to sneak under.

She and West are proud parents of son Noah, 5, and daughter Taelyn, 2. Their youngest will definitely have good genes - even if she can't sponge off of Jennifer Aniston!