Magazines Sue Over Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt Pictures, Brad Pitt denies wedding bells claim

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made their first public appearance since the birth of their daughter, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt with Namibian First Lady Penexupifo Pohamba at a press conference held for the Namibian press exclusively in a hotel in the Namibian city of Swakopmund Wednesday June 7 2006. Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt was born May 27 at a private clinic in Walvis Bay. Delivered by Caesarean section, the baby weighed 7 pounds (3.15 kilograms) and was said to be in good health. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt thanked Namibia on Wednesday for the privacy and peace they enjoyed for the birth of their daughter reports AP

Click here, here , here , and here to see the (same) controversial picture of Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt

"We have been able to have a very special, peaceful time for our family here, exploring your country and more importantly helping with the delivery of our daughter Shiloh," Pitt told a news conference for local journalists at a hotel in the coastal town of Swakopmund. "So for that we are eternally grateful."

Pitt said the couple had "done their homework" before deciding on Namibia as the birthplace of their first biological and third child.

"The health of our daughter and Angie's was imperative. We've had absolute top-notch medical assistance," Pitt said.

Brad Pitt also denied Wednesday that wedding bells are in the air, saying they want to concentrate for now on their newborn daughter and Jolie's two adopted children reports YahooNews.

"There is nothing in the air. The focus is the kids, and we are obviously extremely committed to the children and as parents together," Jolie told a news conference. "So that kind of says it for us, and to have a ceremony on top of it is nothing."

Meanwhile, People and Hello! magazines launched legal action Wednesday against two Web sites that published a picture of Brad Pitt with their newborn daughter.

Hello! denies leaking the photo, saying its cover was kept strictly under wraps. The magazine said it and People "have taken immediate legal action to prevent publication of its cover prior to it going on sale" Thursday in Britain.
Pitt and Jolie sold rights to the images of Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, born May 27 in Namibia, through Getty Images photo agency. The couple said all proceeds would be donated to a charity, not yet named reports Reuters.

PEOPLE magazine paid more than $4.1 million for the North American rights to photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's baby Shiloh, but the worldwide rights to shots of the celebrity baby could top $10 million. People's deal was first reported by Page Six yesterday.

That price tag would make them the most expensive pictures in celebrity magazine history.

People beat out the American edition of OK!, owned by Richard Desmond, and Us Weekly, owned by Jann Wenner and Disney, which both bid in the $4 million range.

Hello!, arch-rival of OK! in Britain, is said to have snagged the British rights for roughly $3.5 million, making People's reputed deal for North American rights a bargain by comparison reports New York Post

American weekly magazine editors were called into a meeting at the agency on Saturday and reportedly shown the pics near midnight. They were given just hours to come up with bids.

"No one got any sleep at all. It was a manic game of phone-tag to top each other's bids. I'm convinced it was Brangie's revenge on the weekly magazines," said one anonymous source.

The Getty agency is reportedly "going crazy" trying to work out what happened. The agency says it cannot confirm the authenticity of the photos on the internet.

"People would have to sell at least 2 million more copies to break even," offered one industry source. In an average week, People sells 1,529,635 on the newsstand. The subscription portion averages another 2,161,532 a week for total paid circulation of just under 3.7 million.

"Our readers will love it," said People Managing Editor Larry Hackett, who was preparing a big cover story package to hit newsstands Thursday.

The embargo on the images was broken when two gossip Web sites posted an apparent image of the front cover of Hello!

Jolie has two adopted children: 16-month-old Zahara, from Ethiopia, and 4-year-old Maddox, from Cambodia. Both had their surnames legally changed to Jolie-Pitt after Pitt announced his intention to adopt the children as well.