In a recent interview with The New York Times, Jennifer Aniston opened up about her relationship with the late actor Daniel McDonald. According to Aniston, “He was my first love — five years we were together. He would have been the one. But I was 25, and I was stupid. He must have sent me Justin [Theroux] to make up for it all.” Back in 2007, McDonald, a Broadway actor, passed away at age 46 after a long battle with brain cancer. Aniston’s revelation made headlines. And McDonald’s widow, Mujah Maraini-Melehi, was not pleased.
Maraini-Melehi released a statement to Inside Edition about the Jennifer Aniston interview. “Daniel and Jennifer had a relationship over 20 years ago, when they were both still very young. She made a life choice, but so did he,” she said in the statement. “I am sorry that Jennifer did not realize the treasure that was Daniel when she had the chance, long before he and I met and long before he died. It pains me to read the headlines that allude to her losing him tragically when in fact she was not present during his long and difficult illness.”
Jennifer Aniston has angered the widow of a man she once dated. Here’s what happened: http://t.co/uqUhOSHmQd pic.twitter.com/RrjcGvG8sW
— CELEBUZZ (@CELEBUZZ) January 16, 2015
She added, “Perhaps Daniel’s gift was to teach her how to love, and to appreciate what she has with Justin Theroux. Those of us who knew Daniel well can assure you that he would not have approved of all this uninvited attention due to his past relationship to Jennifer. I lost my husband. My children lost their father.” Maraini-Melehi also claimed that after McDonald passed away, she contacted Aniston in hopes of returning some pictures from his time with the Hollywood actress. However, she said that she didn’t get a reply from Aniston.
It’s shaping up to be pretty bad week for Aniston. Aside from Maraini-Melehi’s jabs at her, Aniston also didn’t receive an Academy Award nomination for her role in Cake.