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Courtney Love Clarifies Story About Brad Pitt And Being Fired From 'Fight Club': 'Brad Pushed Me A Bridge Too Far'
*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.
Courtney Love explained why she was compelled to discuss a story she was "never going to tell" regarding her alleged firing by Brad Pitt after originally being cast in the 1999 film Fight Club.
Love was an alternative and grunge singer/songwriter who rose to prominence after marrying Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain–who took his own life at 27 after battling depression and heroin addiction.
Last week, she told comedian and host Marc Maron on his WTF podcast she had been cast to play the role of Marla that eventually went to British actress Helena Bonham Carter in David Fincher's Fight Club.
According to the Hole lead singer, Pitt allegedly fired Love from the movie after she turned down a request from Pitt and Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant to make a biopic about Cobain–who Pitt was planning to portray in the film.
In 1995, Gus Van Sant eventually went on to make Last Days—which was a fictionalized account of the last days of a musician whose character was inspired by Cobain and played by actor Michael Pitt.
Love clarified this was not the film originally pitched to her for approval.
Love–who was lauded in 1996 for her performance in The People vs. Larry Flynt–clarified her comments made in the podcast regarding the lost opportunity in the following statement on social media.
"Hi. Regarding a story I told on the @marcmaron #wtf podcast. A story I was never going to tell. Brad pushed me a bridge too far."
"I don't like the way he does business or wields his power. It's a simple fact, and it started during the production of Fight Club."
"I understand how much of a game of roulette casting is. I am not here 22 years later b*tching about losing a part playing someone's side piece in a movie."
\u201cCourtney Love goes after Brad Pitt: 'He kept stalking me about Kurt' https://t.co/YBDUm2MhDA\u201d— Page Six (@Page Six) 1672552865
She continued:
"On the podcast, I recount the day Brad & Gus Van Sant called me from lunch and tried to blackmail me over my role, for the rights to a film about Kurt."
"I lost my sh*t on them, and by 7pm I was fired from Fight Club. Every word of this is factual."
"This was always a secret that I was fine keeping."
"It's a movie. Indeed, I passed on better roles than that. Who cares?"
"The point is Brad kept on stalking me about Kurt."
"With all this resentment in our history, one might ask why I took yet another pitch for Kurt's film from Brad after all these years?"
"It's because I'm in recovery. And resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies."
"I was over being mad about it. Plus, I heard Pitt was dealing with the same demons."
"So, we might both have changed our spiritual world views. Not to be."
\u201c@THR Brad Pitt doesn't get his way so he abuses his power and gets her fired. Like are we shocked he would do that now we know how he tries to do that with Angelina and the kids? #BradPittIsAnAbuser\u201d— The Hollywood Reporter (@The Hollywood Reporter) 1672478225
In her interview with Maron, Love addressed another conversation she had with Pitt who approached her again regarding a project centering on her late husband in 2020.
She wrote:
"It's not just the Zoom I had with Brad in 2020 where I said no to @planbfilms & Brad producing it."
"It's that I said NO on the Zoom and that was not enough, and I was not heard. I was ignored."
\u201ccourtney love may be...chaotic...historically, but i totally believe brad pitt being a weirdo over kurt and wielding his power to be petty to love\n\ni wonder if bringing it up now is related to weinstein and also pitt being an abuser\u201d— endora bullshit (@endora bullshit) 1672450332
She emphasized how this was not something she had planned to mention on the podcast, but "up it came."
Love said she told her story because Pitt would not stop pursuing Cobain unless she publicly stated what happened.
\u201c@THR Good for her for speaking out about the creep\u201d— The Hollywood Reporter (@The Hollywood Reporter) 1672478225
Before signing off, she did clarify having no hard feelings toward the A-lister.
"I don't want Brad to be pissed off at me and become his resentment. I want him to do better."
"I'm not into assault. Cmon brother Pitt. I wish you well, truly."
"If he's mad at me, that’s his problem. I enjoy him as a movie star immensely. Not so much as a biopic producer.
"Hope this clarifies, and thanks for your time."
\u201c@people Everyone just wants to see him as this perfect guy but he\u2019s just not\u201d— People (@People) 1672437130
A handful of users were skeptical.
\u201c@THR She just auditioned for it -it was never offered someone who was in production corrected. Maybe she thought her audition killed it but her boyfriend had to give her the news that she wasn\u2019t hired. The news to me was who her boyfriend was. Edward Norton ??!\u201d— The Hollywood Reporter (@The Hollywood Reporter) 1672478225
\u201c@people That's not true but if it were true, I would thank Brad Pitt hahaha\u201d— People (@People) 1672437130
Love also gave a shout-out to Carter, who wound up playing the role Love was allegedly cast in.
"I'm sure Helena Bonham Carter was utterly meant to be Marla Singer and I do not bear her or [star and Love ex] Edward Norton or David Fincher or [producer] Art Linson—all people whose work & genius I respect immensely—any ill will."
Pitt and the studios behind Fight Club have not commented on the matter after attempts were made to reach out to them.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/