Justin Theroux, Aubrey Plaza “New Couple Alert” Is Wrong

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Justin Theroux and Aubrey Plaza are not dating, despite speculation from a website that has already issued a “new couple alert.” Gossip Cop can set the record straight. The friendly stars spent time together primarily for professional, not personal, reasons. Furthermore, Plaza isn’t even single, we can confirm.

But the rumor mill kicked into overdrive on Thursday when the Daily Mail published photos of Theroux and Plaza outside his New York City apartment. That’s led HollywoodLife to breathlessly ask, “Do we have a new couple on our hands!?” The site speculates Theroux “may already be moving on” from Jennifer Aniston, even as it admits the actor “didn’t flaunt any PDA or even touch” Plaza in the paparazzi pictures. Still, the blog editorializes that, with the timing of Theroux’s breakup, “It certainly wouldn’t be far-fetched for him to have moved on by now.”

Further indicating it doesn’t know for sure what’s actually going on, the outlet points out Plaza has been “in a serious relationship” with Jeff Baena since 2011, and notes that they were “definitely still together as of 2017, but they haven’t been photographed together in more than a year.” Asserting that Plaza is “very private about her personal life,” the online publication calls it “not surprising” she and Baena haven’t been seen with one another “in quite a bit of time.”

Then the website wonders if Plaza and Theroux’s get-together “could be nothing more than a meet-up between friends,” but still adds, “It definitely has people talking!” Clearly the wishy-washy site rather fan the flames and throw out various scenarios than actually investigate. In contrast, Gossip Cop took the time to fact-check so we could learn what really is or isn’t going on. In the course of our research, we checked in with a mutual pal, who assures us Plaza is still with her longtime boyfriend.

Additionally, a rep for Theroux confirms to Gossip Cop that he and Plaza were hanging out to discuss a work project, which was also reported by People. Even the Daily Mail noted in its original report, “There is nothing to suggest the pair are anything more than friends.” Yet HollywoodLies, as it’s nicknamed, still saw fit to jump the gun. It’s also worth noting, given that it’s not mentioned in its piece, the blog is seemingly unaware that Theroux and Plaza previously worked together on “Parks And Recreation” for episodes that aired back in 2010.

And instead of focusing on facts, like Gossip Cop has done here, the outlet instead brings up other rumors that have wrongly linked Theroux to Olivia Munn and Petra Collins in recent weeks. Perhaps if HollywoodLies spent more time on real reporting than spreading bogus gossip, it could become a reputable publication. But opposed to that actually happening, Gossip Cop predicts the website will either manufacture fake “exclusives” about Theroux and Plaza’s (nonexistent) relationship or suddenly claim to know the “truth” about them just being pals. Our eyes will be peeled.