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CORRENS,
France—The Brangelina clan began settling into their new
home in the south of France as a report that Angelina
Jolie’s twins had been born was denied by Brad Pitt’s
manager.
Entertainment Tonight first reported on its web site
Friday that the actress had given birth in
France.
The TV show stood by its story Friday night, with host
Mary Hart saying on the air that “just this morning, a
source who says she was inside the delivery room tells
us yes, the babies were born and yes, mother and babies
are fine.”
Pitt’s
manager, Cynthia Pett-Dante, told The Associated Press:
“We have no comment except the story is not true.”
Several
celebrity news outlets also reported the story was
false. A spokesman for Entertainment Tonight did not
return a call for comment Friday.
Jolie
has said previously that her twins are due in August.
She and Pitt have four other children: six-year-old
Maddox, four-year-old Pax and three-year-old Zahara, who
are adopted, and two-year-old
Shiloh.
In
southern France, where locals say the couple recently
moved, officials at the Etoile Maternite Catholique de
Provence in Aix-en-Provence, one of the region’s top
maternity clinics, said that Jolie had not been there
and did not appear scheduled to come.
Privacy
rules about health matters are extremely strict in
France.
The pair
recently moved into the Miraval Estate villa in the
French hamlet of Correns, in the
Provence region, according to the mayor and a local inn owner.
Traditionally, the region has lured tourists mostly for
rock-climbing excursions on the rolling hills of the
verdant region and leisurely strolls in its quaint
medieval villages.
Mayor
Michael Latz trumpets Correns as France’s first town
where all locally grown produce is organic—and his
villagers teem with pride about that reputation, and
seem mostly bemused about the invasion of Hollywood
buzz.
“I like
to joke that I’m happy to be able to contribute to the
image of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, because Correns
is so well known,” Mayor Latz said with a smile outside
the ochre-colored town hall.
Latz
said that Tom Bove, an American businessman who owns
Miraval, recently told him that Jolie and Pitt had
agreed to a three-year lease on the property, known for
producing high-quality organic wine.
The
couple is “in the process of moving in,” said Latz,
adding that he hadn’t met them and knew nothing about
whether Jolie had given birth or not.
“They
are people who, I hope, will live normally here,” he
said. “I would think the choice of Brad Pitt and
Angelina Jolie...is tied to the quality of life in
Correns.”
Latz
also rejected speculation about an imminent wedding, and
said that under French law they would need to alert
local authorities if they want to officially tie the
knot here.
Security
guards were blocking the gates to the estate Friday,
while a postal truck and other maintenance vehicles
regularly passed in and out. The castle and accompanying
buildings can’t be seen from public roads.
Onno
Stijl, owner of the L’Auberge du Parc inn, said it was a
good thing they were moving in and could help business.
He said he gets his wine from the estate’s vineyards.
“It’s a
couple living here now like everyone,” he said.
The
area, he said, “is a bit isolated but that gives it a
certain...privacy.”
According to its web site, the Miraval estate dates from
pre-Roman times. It includes fountains, aqueducts,
moats, a lake and vineyards that produce an organic wine
distributed worldwide.
Pitt and
Jolie may be Miraval’s first movie stars in residence,
but Miraval has seen its share of rock stars. The estate
includes a studio which has hosted the likes of Sting,
the Cranberries and Pink Floyd, who recorded tracks for
The Wall album there. AP |
