Jennifer Aniston spent her 57th birthday in black and white, pressed into a kiss that felt as public as it was intimate, as boyfriend Jim Curtis quietly moved their romance another step into the spotlight.

TLDR

Jennifer Aniston’s 57th birthday came with a rare public kiss from boyfriend Jim Curtis, whose black-and-white tribute and gentle openness on morning TV signal a relationship that is steadily moving from private comfort into public view.

A Birthday Kiss in Black and White

According to Page Six, Curtis marked Aniston’s birthday with a striking black-and-white photograph that he posted on Instagram. In the shot, the hypnotherapist leans in across an arrangement of flowers as the couple shares a full kiss. Their faces are close, eyes closed, hands tucked just out of frame. It is not a red carpet moment or a paparazzi grab. It is intimate, curated, and framed to look almost timeless.

The post also included a second image. This one showed the couple laughing together on a boat, sunlight on their faces, bodies angled toward each other in the easy way of people who have logged real hours together. The contrast between the smoldering kiss and the carefree boat shot painted a simple narrative. Private chemistry, public joy.

Curtis kept his caption short. Page Six reports that he wrote, “HBD MY,” letting the photo do the rest of the talking. The restraint did not dull the impact. If anything, it underscored it. For a star who has spent decades watching the world comment on her love life, the message felt direct and protective at the same time.

Fans filled the comments with their own emotional responses. One wrote, “How cute are you both!! So happy for you,” and layered the sentiment with pink hearts. Another thanked Curtis directly for sharing the moment, writing, “Beautiful pictures, thanks, Jim. HBD to our dear Jen.” Someone else summed up the mood in the fandom with, “You guys are so lucky you found one another. We’re all THRILLED for you!”

One comment seemed to capture the wish many longtime followers hold for Aniston. “Complete energetic alignment,” the fan wrote. “You will grow old together.” It was hopeful, a little mystical, and deeply invested in the idea of stability for a woman whose romantic history has played out under a magnifying glass since the 1990s.

Black-and-white photo of Jennifer Aniston and Jim Curtis kissing, from his Instagram birthday tribute.
Photo: Jim Curtis and Jennifer Aniston kissed in a new photo he shared on Instagram on Wednesday. – Page Six

The birthday kiss was not just a sweet moment. It was another deliberate tile in a mosaic Aniston and Curtis have been assembling over the past year, piece by piece, on their own timing.

From Quiet Introduction to Instagram Official

Curtis has begun to share a little more about how this relationship started, although both he and Aniston remain careful about details. During a recent appearance on “Today” with Craig Melvin, Curtis described their beginning in simple terms. “We were just introduced by friends,” he said. “That’s it. We found out that we had mutual friends, and we started to just chat.”

As Melvin pressed, he noticed what viewers at home could see. Curtis was blushing. “You’re kind of blushing,” Melvin teased. Curtis laughed and admitted, “OK, yeah. I sure am.” There was no polished Hollywood anecdote, no carefully crafted origin story. Just two adults in their 50s, introduced through a familiar social circle, taking their time.

Curtis explained that the relationship did not start with instant fireworks, at least not publicly. “We chatted for a long time,” he said, before they “became close.” When asked how long it had been going on, he remained intentionally vague on the timeline, offering only, “It took a long time. Months now, almost close to a year.”

The public first started connecting their names in July 2025, when the pair were spotted vacationing in Spain alongside famous friends. According to Page Six, that trip ignited early dating speculation, especially since Aniston has rarely been photographed looking quite so relaxed away from work.

Several months later, in November 2025, Aniston took her own step into the light. She posted a black-and-white photo of herself wrapping Curtis in an embrace as part of a birthday tribute for him. The image, shared with her massive audience, felt like an intentional shift from rumor to acknowledgment. For fans who had watched her guard her private life for years, it was a clear signal. This man mattered.

Jennifer Aniston hugging Jim Curtis from behind in a black-and-white birthday post.
Photo: Aniston hard-launched the relationship in November with a birthday post for Curtis. – Page Six

The new birthday post from Curtis now feels like the companion piece. His tribute to her, her earlier tribute to him. Two black-and-white images that frame a relationship slowly taking up space in public view.

Why This Romance Matters for Jen

Aniston is not just any star falling in love again. For nearly three decades, she has been a prism through which the culture has processed ideas about marriage, divorce, family, and independence. Her marriages to Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux, and the intense media scrutiny around both, have often threatened to eclipse her own voice in the story.

As the “Friends” alum moved from TV phenomenon to film star to streaming fixture, her personal life became a tabloid epic. She has spoken publicly about the way narratives were projected onto her, from endless pregnancy speculation to assumptions about heartbreak. Through it all, Aniston tended to keep her romantic life relatively off-limits, showing up on carpets, supporting exes respectfully, but rarely offering much more.

This relationship with Curtis carries a different energy. He is not a Hollywood leading man or a fellow marquee name. Curtis is a hypnotherapist and wellness figure, someone who moves in adjacent circles but not under the same blinding lights. That alone shifts the power dynamic. The attention rests on Aniston, as it always has, but Curtis appears comfortable orbiting her world without competing for center stage.

For Aniston, now in her late 50s, the timing and tone feel significant. The kiss photo is not a youthful hard launch or a performative red carpet debut. It reads as two grown people choosing to be seen, but only in the angles they choose. Aniston’s decision to share that first affectionate black-and-white snap on her own Instagram in 2025 was one line in the sand. Allowing Curtis’s equally intimate tribute to live on his platform is another.

To longtime fans, the effect is cumulative. This is not about proving she is happy or countering any old breakup narrative. It is about watching someone who has been endlessly discussed finally move through a relationship at a pace and with a level of privacy that appears to suit her.

Jennifer Aniston and Jim Curtis leaving a restaurant together in the rain.
Photo: The “Friends” alum was previously married to Brad Pitt before marrying and divorcing Justin Theroux. – Page Six

In Hollywood, where every coupling can become a brand, the most notable thing about Aniston and Curtis so far is how unbranded they appear. There are trips, dinners, rain-soaked exits from restaurants, and now carefully chosen social media posts. There are no joint interviews, no coordinated campaigns, no shared projects. Their relationship, at least from the outside, looks like it exists for them first and everyone else second.

A Different Kind of Hollywood Love

Curtis’s own comments suggest that the pace was intentional. “It took a long time,” he said of the relationship’s evolution. “Months now, almost close to a year.” For many celebrities, that would qualify as a long, slow burn before acknowledging anything publicly. For two people with full careers and histories behind them, it sounds more like the natural timeline of grown-up connection.

The genre of late-in-life love has always resonated deeply with Gen X and Baby Boomer audiences, many of whom have moved through their own chapters of marriage, divorce, singledom, and reinvention. Aniston’s romance with Curtis slots into that genre with an extra layer of visibility. What does it look like when one of the most photographed women of the past 30 years allows herself a new partner, without making him her storyline?

The answer, so far, is in small details. The way their boat photo radiates private laughter rather than posed perfection. The way Curtis blushes on national television when her name comes up. The way Aniston seems comfortable letting him take the lead on this latest intimate image.

None of it guarantees forever, and neither of them appears interested in promising that to the public. Instead, their choices project something quieter. Mutual respect. A shared sense of humor. A willingness to acknowledge love without turning it into content.

For a woman whose romantic life has been parsed in headlines since the 1990s, that might be the most radical move of all. The kiss is romantic. The tribute is sweet. The real story is that Jennifer Aniston seems to be writing this chapter on her own terms, with a partner who appears content to let the world see only what they choose to share.

Join the Discussion

How do you see Jennifer Aniston and Jim Curtis balancing privacy with going public in this new chapter of her life?

References

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