Fotonoticias/WireImage.com; Mark Sullivan/WireImage.comWhile there are plenty of actors out there who would love to be romantically linked to Jennifer Aniston, Cougar Town star Josh Hopkins isn't one of them.
Late last month, celebrity tabloids had a field day claiming the two—who met through Aniston's BFF and Hopkins' costar Courteney Cox—were dating. (Not to be confused with the "emotional affair" Cox may or may not have had with another of the Cougar Town stars, Brian Van Holt.)
No biggie there, but then things got nasty…
One report claimed that Hopkins rejected Aniston and refers to her by a not-so-nice cuss-fueled nickname.
"That was really, really weird and hurtful," Hopkins tells Parade.com. "I've been working in this business for a long time and it's the first time I've ever found myself caught up in the middle of tabloid journalism. It was eye opening to see that a publication could pick up a story from a completely fabricated, unnamed source and create a so-called story. It was just because of one picture."
The picture he's referring to was one of him and Jen enjoying a friendly meal together—nothing more, nothing less, he says.
Describing the whole experience as "dirty and invasive," Hopkins said, "It's one thing to read something outrageous, it's another thing to see something outrageous about yourself and then have people that are just gonna form opinions about you on just completely random, false, made up information."
Even so, some stories are so far-fetched, he can't help but find the humor in it. "[S]ometimes something really bizarre, that it's almost funny, comes out," Hopkins said. "Like 'Courteney Cox has a three-headed baby,' you know, totally weird, then we'll bring it up like, 'Did you see this?'"
We'll assume Hopkins similarly has avoided discussing stories concerning Cox and Van Holt—unless of course she's pregnant with his three-headed baby.