We’ve known for a few months now that Brad Pitt is dating Nicole Poturalski, a 27-year-old German model.
Obviously, there’s nothing surprising about a late-middle-aged Hollywood A-lister dating a much younger model — but Brad and Nicole’s situation is a little different.
For one thing, Poturalski is already married.
Not only that, it seems she and Pitt aren’t hooking up behind her husband’s back — they’re doing so with his blessing.
For obvious reasons, the situation has attracted a good deal of attention, much of it negative.
While Nicole probably expected some light trolling when she started dating Brad, it seems the situation is worse than she imagined.
And now, she’s speaking out on her own behalf.
Poturalski recently posted an Instagram Story in which she complained about the fact that her comments section has turned into a dumpster fire ever since the world learned that she’s dating Brad.
“Hey guys, I have been wondering since forever why people leave hateful comments?” she captioned one of the videos, according to Us Weekly.
“Why? What is the benefit? Just in general, I want to understand the train of thoughts [sic].”
It’s a question that many of us have asked ourselves, but few of us have put it to the public like that.
We don’t know what sort of response Nicole received, but we’re guessing it wasn’t favorable, as she deleted the videos not long after she posted them.
“It’s just so rude and sad for those commenting,” she continued.
“Just don’t follow people you don’t want to see or [if you] don’t like their content. Easy.”
Again, a simple question, yet not one that’s easily answered.
Of course, it’s troubling that Nicole is receiving the brunt of the bullying in this situation.
Part of the reason Brad isn’t receiving much hate is that he’s not on social media, but even if he were, the bullies would likely be focusing primarily on Nicole.
As a young, female newcomer, she’s simply more vulnerable than Pitt, and there’s nothing bullies love more than vulnerability.
Some of these a-holes probably justify their trash talk with the fact that Nicole is still married.
But Brad’s not without marital drama of his own.
After all, the infamous Pitt-Jolie custody battle is still dragging on, and it seems to be getting uglier by the day.
Most recently, Pitt’s lawyers accused Jolie of needlessly drawing out the proceedings by requesting a new judge.
Angelina alleges that the current judge is biased in favor of Brad.
“Her interests are the same as they always have been, which is to protect the kids and the health of the family,” an insider close to Jolie told Us last month.
“In the end, she is going to do what’s best for the children as she has done all along.”
Meanwhile, Nicole’s rich husband is chill about her hooking up with Brad Pitt.
Sounds like Brad is the one with the real drama in his life.
Maybe Nicole should take a page from his book and distance herself from social media for a bit.
Of course, as an up-and-coming model, she may not have the option of deleting her Instagram.