Justin Theroux NOT “Leaning On” Olivia Munn Following Jennifer Aniston Split, Despite Report

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Justin Theroux is not “leaning on” Olivia Munn following his split from Jennifer Aniston. Not only is this claim wrong, but a certain tabloid had the gall to publish it even after Munn spoke out publicly to say the allegation was false. Gossip Cop can explain what’s shamefully going on.

Just over a week ago, Munn took to Instagram to tell fans that In Touch had a story in the works inaccurately claiming a relationship between her and Theroux was blossoming. The actress, working with her publicist, let the gossip magazine know that there was no truth to such a contention. She explained in her post that her official denial was rejected. “Since they said they’re running that story even if we said it’s 100 million percent not true, I thought I’d just let you guys know on my own that it’s not,” Munn wrote.

One would think that after Munn went public to set the record straight, the outlet would chalk up its misinformation to a reporting mistake and cancel plans to run the article. Instead, the publication printed its piece anyway, and is also running it online with a post asking, “New couple alert?!” No, there’s no new couple. Munn already made that clear. But since the tabloid chose to run fiction over fact, let’s dissect the bogus claims.

The magazine insists Theroux is “beginning a new romance” with Munn, in the wake of both of them voicing characters in last year’s The Lego Ninjago Movie. A so-called “insider” is quoted as saying the actor has been “leaning on Olivia since leaving Jen,” and alleges “things have definitely gone from the friendship zone into the flirting zone.” It’s predicted Aniston will “hit the roof” upon learning of the purported relationship, and the outlet speculates Munn and Theroux may be “spotted together” when they supposedly “meet up” in New York City in the “coming weeks.”

The publication even built in a cover-up excuse for when the pair aren’t actually seen together. The aforementioned “insider” claims Theroux and Aniston made a “deal that he’d stay officially single for six months… so he has to be careful.” Of course, the real reason they won’t be stepping out together is because there’s no “romance.” Despite dating rumors, Theroux is still getting over his breakup with Aniston and has not embarked on a new relationship.

To be fair, the online version of the In Touch story does acknowledge that Munn responded to the Theroux dating rumors and “recently denied the romance on Instagram.” But since that was the case, the magazine could’ve offered an explanation, if it even had one, to justify why it moved forward with its claims anyway. Instead, the outlet buried the denial at the very end, and contributed to the proliferation of fake news.

There’s also no mention of another post Munn made on Instagram, in which she highlighted her friendship with Aniston, with whom she co-starred in Office Christmas Party. The tabloid did not practice real journalism here, and owes an apology to all of the parties.