Jennifer Aniston employed a playful and risqué joke while interviewing her boyfriend, author Jim Curtis, during a rare public appearance in New York on Wednesday night. The couple took the stage at Kaufmann Concert Hall at 92NY Residence to celebrate the release of Curtis's new book, "The Book of Possibility."
Aniston, 57, who attended Steiner School nearby, reminisced about using the venue's gym for Thursday classes. "I wasn't very sporty, but we had to do dodgeball and there were these huge red balls," she recalled. "And there was no field it was just indoors so you had to run for your life. So it's quite a full circle moment to be back here with you..."
She then turned to Curtis and quipped, "Well... speaking of dodging balls...!" The audience responded with laughter. At the conclusion of their 30-minute conversation, Aniston playfully asked Curtis, "Have I completely embarrassed you?" to which he responded, "A lot."
During a fan Q&A session, Aniston revealed that Curtis is helping her confront a "deep fear of public speaking" by having her moderate the event. When asked about managing stress, she shared, "Deep breaths and meditation. Truly. It is five deep, deep breaths. Focus. Take a moment."
Jim Curtis also opened up about his personal health journey. He described the challenges of coming to terms with health issues in his early twenties, which included lesions on his spinal cord leading to partial paralysis and chronic nerve damage. "I'm not saying here that if the doctor tells you to do something, you should get up and leave," Curtis explained. "What I'm saying is you don't have to live as the victim. You don't have to live in your suffering. It can become your power." His advice for navigating health difficulties is to "accept it and love it."
Curtis admitted he was once ashamed of his medical condition and would tell people he had a motorcycle accident to explain his limp, viewing the fabricated story as more "macho." He stated that over 25 years, he has worked to overcome these insecurities through "self-acceptance and self-love."
The couple, who became Instagram official in November, shared a warm embrace on stage before exiting. Aniston posted a black and white photo of herself hugging Curtis from behind for his birthday, captioning it, "Happy birthday, my love. Cherished ❤️."
