When Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux announced they were calling it quits in February 2018 after seven years together, they made it clear they would happily maintain their "cherished friendship." That friendship was in full effect this week as Jen hosted her annual "Friendsgiving" dinner, alongside her ex, who documented the pre-Thanksgiving holiday get-together in photos and videos posted to his Instagram Story.
"very VERY thankful for these friends and these nights," Justin captioned one group shot (via People). Among the pals who joined the two for the pre-Thanksgiving meal were Courteney Cox, who later gave a toast in honor of the hostess, telling her "Jen, I love you so much," before she jokingly demanded Justin stop filming her, plus Jimmy Kimmel, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett.
Another post from Justin showed Will puckering up and pretending to go in for a kiss on his buddy, Jason.
"Guys," Justin captioned the silly shot. "This is giving too much thanks."
Justin and Jen have both discussed their post-split relationship with the press, stressing that they remain close despite the change in how they now interact.
Speaking to the New York Times in September 2018, Justin called the breakup "the most gentle separation, in that there was no animosity." He went on to say he and his ex "respected each other enough that it was as painless as it could be," though he did acknowledge the split made him understandably sad.
"It was heartbreaking, only in the sense that the friendship would not be the same, as far as just the day to day," he told the Times. "But the friendship is shifting and changing, you know, so that part is something that we're both very proud of."
Two months later in a cover story for Elle, Jen explained her perspective on that shift, as well as the one with Brad Pitt, whom she married in 2000 and divorced in 2005.
"My marriages, they've been very successful, in [my] personal opinion. And when they came to an end, it was a choice that was made because we chose to be happy, and sometimes happiness didn't exist within that arrangement anymore," she said at the time.
"This is our one life and I would not stay in a situation out of fear," Jen continued. "Fear of being alone. Fear of not being able to survive. To stay in a marriage based on fear feels like you're doing your one life a disservice. When the work has been put in and it doesn't seem that there's an option of it working, that's OK. That's not a failure."