Widow of Jennifer Aniston’s ‘first love’ slams Jen’s comments: He would not approve

This isn’t shaping up to be a good week for Jennifer Aniston. After an exhaustive Oscars campaign, she was totally shunned by the Academy. And she was knocked down a few more notches by the widow of the man she told the New York Times she was meant to marry.

Last week, when Jen’s Oscar campaign was still in full swing, she brought up her “first love,” Daniel McDonald, who died years after their relationship from a brain tumor.

“Five years we were together,” she said. “He would have been the one. But I was 25, and I was stupid. He must have sent me Justin to make up for it all.”

Well, Daniel’s widow, Mujah Maraini-Melehi, wasn’t too pleased that Jennifer randomly evoked his memory for the interview — especially because Mujah says Jen “was not present during his long and difficult illness.” In an extensive, eloquent Facebook post about her thoughts, Mujah said her feelings on the matter might seem trivial, but she was still “very upset” by the story.

“What is precious shines in our hearts and should not be splayed for everyone’s consumption in the media this way,” she said, according to The Daily Mail. “My heart aches to see our tragedy of losing Daniel to serve the media’s hunger for sensationalism. I remember how journalists often called our home to ask Daniel for information about Jennifer, and being the gentleman that he was, he would always decline to comment on anything at all. I imagine he would be appalled to be caught up in this media circus, especially after he had found Love and built a family of his own.”

After Jennifer and Daniel broke up in the mid-1990s, Daniel, an actor who appeared in some TV roles and on Broadway, married and had two kids before he was diagnosed with brain cancer. Shortly after he died in 2007, Mujah said she thoughtfully reached out to Jennifer and offered to send her some pictures Daniel kept from their relationship. She said she never heard back.

“Why now? I wonder. After decades of stardom, she is media savvy enough to know that any casual comment she makes becomes front page tabloid news,” Mujah said. “Please respect our love and especially our Loss. The children lost their father. I lost my partner. I am sorry that Jennifer did not realize the treasure that was Daniel when she had the chance, long before he and I met and long before he died.”