While the weekend event produced fabulous pictures, sadly there were only a few tidbits of news: Nicky Hilton (you know, Paris's sister) trading in her dark locks to go blond. Orlando Bloom (who is supposedly dating Kate Bosworth) hot and heavy with Kirsten Dunst. And Jessica Simpson sporting a scandalous version of a French maid's outfit -- torn out in the back.
The awards show was one of two major topics for the issue for the week of Friday, Sept. 1, through Thursday, Sept. 7 -- along with this year's fashion "winners" (Simpson, Nicole Richie, Oprah Winfrey) and "sinners" (Mary-Kate Olsen).
In addition, writer Mara Reinstein was preparing an article quoting witnesses who saw Aniston and Vince Vaughn making out at the House of Blues in Chicago, and Joey Bartolomeo had a piece reporting that Jolie recently attended a benefit for Haiti in the Hamptons and that Pitt was going to rent a house in the Hamptons.
The photos of Pitt and the children, however, threatened to throw the plans awry.
Around 7:15 p.m., Grossman, 30, a music education graduate student turned photo editor, came in bringing more shots--including one that showed Pitt's and Zahara's faces, but extremely blurred. The room of editors erupted into a rapid-fire free-for-all.
"It's a setup!"
"Who cares?"
"He's really buff."
"But he seems to have a careless hold on said baby."
"Cute! Cute!"
For a few hopeful seconds the editors wondered whether it was possible to turn the photo into the cover shot, but they concluded with great disappointment that the resolution was too poor. They tested out a cover with Aniston and Vince but concluded there had been too much "white noise" about their relationship already and that a fashion cover -- with some reference to the whole Pitt-Aniston-Jolie -- was still the way to go.
Plus, Us Weekly had already put the evolving story on its cover many times that year. Aniston had been the lead photo 13 times, Jolie twice. (The formula seems to have worked, though, because the top-selling issue was "Jen's Revenge" and the second-best-selling issue was "Angelina & The Kids Move in With Brad.")
Officially, Us Weekly has no editorial position on the Pitt-Aniston-Jolie affair, but any staffer will tell you it is difficult to stay neutral.
When Leslie Bruce, a 23-year-old who recently got her graduate degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, saw the picture of Pitt and the children, she shook her head disapprovingly.
"He's parading this -- wait until his divorce is final," she said. "He's still technically married."
Grossman begged to differ. "No matter what anyone says about how sick they are of the story, you see this and it's like, 'Ah!' " he said. "You can't not like this guy."
