In the late '80s, Christina Applegate and Brad Pitt dated while Applegate was starring on the TV series Married... with Children and Pitt was an up-and-coming actor still a few years away from his breakout role in Thelma & Louise. Their relationship was short-lived—it seems to have lasted a year or less—and came to an abrupt end when Applegate dumped Pitt for another celebrity while they were in the middle of a date at a Hollywood awards show. Read on to find out more.
RELATED: Liam Neeson Says Natasha Richardson Threatened to Dump Him Over Movie Role.
Pitt and Applegate had a brief relationship.
Barry King/WireImage via Getty ImagesPitt and Applegate were first photographed looking flirty at an event in 1988, and we know that their relationship ended suddenly in September 1989, so their relationship wasn't a lengthy one. At the time, Applegate was in her late teens and had been starring on Married... with Children for only a year. Pitt, meanwhile, was in his mid-20s and was beginning his career. He'd played small roles in movies and had guested on episodes of Dallas, Growing Pains, and 21 Jump Street.
In a 2012 interview with More magazine (via USA Today), Applegate shared that as a young person growing up in Los Angeles and then working in the entertainment industry, Pitt and Jason Priestley had both come to her home for barbecues. As InStyle points out, Applegate's parents were both in the entertainment industry—her mother was an actor and her father a music producer.
Applegate told More of her young life, "I've never lived more than five minutes from where I grew up. All the moms kind of let us do whatever we wanted to do. There weren't a lot of rules, but there was a lot of mutual respect. I always made sure she knew where I was, and I would always be home by a reasonable hour."
Applegate ditched Pitt at an awards show.
Applegate and Pitt attended the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards together in September 1989. During the ceremony, Applegate presented the award for Best Group Video alongside Alice Cooper. It was at this event that she left Pitt for another young star.
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live in 2015, Applegate confirmed that she left Pitt because she was interested in someone else. She tried to remain tight-lipped and only nodded her answers or said "mhmm." She wouldn't reveal the other man's identity, but she did say that he was famous and not an actor. She also confirmed that she did not end up dating that person but also did not get back together with Pitt.
RELATED: Gene Simmons Called KISS Groupie Hookups "More Honest" Than Real Relationships.
A musician claimed to be the mystery man.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc via Getty ImagesWhile promoting his book, 18 and Life on Skid Row, Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach said that he was the man Applegate left Pitt for. As reported by Loudwire, he said on the radio showElliot in the Morning, "She was interviewed recently on, like, Entertainment Tonight, or something, and they said, 'What was the dumbest thing you ever did?' And she goes, 'One night I ditched Brad Pitt for this other dude.' And that dude would be me." Bach was, in fact, in attendance at the 1989 MTV VMAs.
He added, "So there was a time on this Earth when Sebastian Bach was, like, a hotter lay than Brad Pitt. Of course that's going in the book. I've gotta tell somebody that, Jesus!"
Applegate never confirmed whether or not Bach's claim was true.
Both Pitt and Applegate moved on to longer lasting relationships.
Kathy Hutchins / ShutterstockAfter their breakup, Pitt and Applegate both moved on to other relationships. Pitt was engaged to Gwyneth Paltrow in 1996, married to Jennifer Aniston from 2000 to 2005, and in a relationship with Angelina Jolie—with whom he has six children—from 2005 to 2016.
Applegate has been married twice. She was married to actor Johnathon Schaech from 2001 to 2007. Since 2013, she has been married to musician Martyn LeNoble, with whom she has one child.
For more celebrity news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
