In a YouTube video posted Friday afternoon, Angelina Jolie announced that she will not be able to attend Monday’s Los Angeles premiere for her latest directorial effort, Unbroken, due to a bout of chicken pox.“You have to laugh at the timing,” Jolie says in a statement that accompanied the video. “I was sure nothing could stop me from supporting Unbroken. I am heartbroken to miss our premiere.” A spokesman for Universal Pictures, which is distributing the WWII drama, says, “We all wish Angelina a speedy recovery and look forward to her returning to her work very soon. She is in very good spirits, considering after two years of hard work, she will not be there the night it finally premieres.” Her husband, Brad Pitt, and her children will appear on her behalf Monday — though if any of their six children are absent as well, we’ll have a good idea about where she picked up the chicken pox. The announcement comes on the heels of Jolie’s name turning up in the press not because of her latest film but because of leaked emails between Sony chief Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin in which Rudin describes Jolie as “a minimally talented spoiled brat” and balks at backing her long-planned “Cleopatra” film. Jolie’s intro to video, citing that she wants to be “clear and honest” about skipping the premiere, suggests she anticipates some critics assuming her absence is due to the bad press. Patients who never contracted chicken pox as children and instead develop it as adults she are at higher risk for developing severe symptoms and complications, including pneumonia.
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Angelina Jolie missing ‘Unbroken’ premiere due to chicken pox
