Brad Wants Less Attention

Brad Pitt is taking action.

In an ABC Primetime Live interview with Diane Sawyer scheduled to air Tuesday night, the Troy thesp expressed his frustration at the amount of media attention he receives while the causes he champions, such as the humanitarian crisis in Africa, go largely ignored.

"I can't get out of the press. These people can't get in the press. So, let's redirect the attention a little bit," Pitt tells Sawyer.

Despite the fact that the actor has been working to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa of late, it's the unconfirmed and oft-denied details of his personal life that generally wind up making headlines.

"It's a strange focus, isn't it? That my relationships or relationship mishaps take precedent over something like that," Pitt said. "I understand it's about entertainment, but, man, it's misguided a bit, isn't it?"

Pitt says he's not looking for people to listen to him simply because of his celebrity, but he's hoping his fame will draw attention to the issues.

"I don't believe people should listen to me," the actor said. "I'm hoping the images will speak for themselves."

Since his split from Jennifer Aniston in January and his subsequent rumored romance with his Mr. and Mrs. Smith costar Angelina Jolie, Pitt--always a hot tabloid subject--has reached scorching status.

The increased coverage has made the actor even less fond of the glossies.

Pitt said he and Aniston used to have a "no-read" policy when it came to tabloid stories referencing their relationship.

"Now it's [also] a no-looking policy," Pitt tells Sawyer. "There's bigger fights to fight."

However, the actor seems to have read enough tabloid reports about himself and Aniston to be able to dismiss the bulk of the stories about his relationship as "ridiculous."

Pitt addressed rumors that his impending divorce came about because he wanted children while Aniston didn't, calling them "bulls--t" and "completely fabricated."

"Most of these stories, you get probably 2 percent real fruit juice, and the rest is just garbage with no nutritional value," Pitt said.

As for rumors that Jolie was the reason behind the demise of his marriage, Pitt is willing to concede it makes for a "good story."

"You know I've been in these tabloids for 14 years now," Pitt said. "And at some point, you just become a Zen master of it all."

Zen master or no, the actor admits he was somewhat appalled at the prices paid for paparazzi photos of himself and Jolie on a Kenyan beach back in April.

"I mean it's an amazing fact, the bounty that's on my head and the lengths that these people go to get these shots and the amount of money that they're paying for these shots--I think something like half a million dollars or three quarters of a million dollars--for those shots," Pitt said.

"And as we talk about what we're talking about today, I can't help but think what that money could have gone to. Hell, I would have set up the damn pictures myself."

Jolie had a similarly dim view of the infamous beach shots that wound up on the cover of Us Weekly.

During a Monday interview on NBC's Today Show, Ann Curry asked Jolie about her reaction to the pictures, stating she herself felt it was "insane" that the photographer was paid so well for them.

"You know, you bought it. You're holding it," Jolie responded.

Though Curry denied buying the magazine, Jolie wasn't willing to let her off the hook.

"But I mean the fact is, it's part of your program. It's something that we're talking about. Still. That's probably why he got half a million dollars," Jolie stated.

Like Pitt, Jolie expressed frustration over the fact that the fluffier aspects of her life are well chronicled, while the grittier stuff goes ignored.

"You know, I've spent the last month in Pakistan and Sierra Leone in places they should be focusing on taking pictures," the actress said. "They're nowhere. You know, I've just come back to New York. I've been gone a month. And so now they're going to get me on a carousel."

With Mr. and Mrs. Smith finally opening Friday, both Pitt and Jolie are making it clear that the only chemistry they're willing to discuss is of the onscreen variety.

Reporters covering the promotional junket for the film were made to sign contracts indicating that neither star could be asked any questions about their personal lives. Jolie's contract even stated that the actress could sue any journo daring to cross the line.

There has been no word yet on what the pair has in store for any reporter who dares to give the film a nasty review.