Brad Pitt. SIPA USA

Brad Pitt shades Eagles while praising Philly superfan Bradley Cooper

Brad Pitt had (almost) nothing but kind words for fellow actor Bradley Cooper at a recent awards ceremony. If only Cooper weren’t such an avid Eagles fan.

While presenting Cooper with the Outstanding Performer of the Year award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Pitt took a moment to wish Cooper the best of luck at next month’s Oscars. His 2023 film "Maestro" is up for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture with Cooper nominated for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.  

The Philadelphia native has been nominated for Best Actor three other times and Best Supporting Actor once. He’s also been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay with three of his films nominated for Best Picture. But he’s never won an Oscar. 

And Pitt believes his buddy will be just fine if he comes up empty again. “He’s used to it,” Pitt said. “He’s a Philadelphia Eagles fan.” 

He certainly is.

While appearing on Sirius XM’s "Howard Stern Show" in late November, Cooper was asked whether he’d prefer winning Oscars for Best Actor and Director (with a nod to Carey Mulligan for Best Actress) or Philadelphia winning the Super Bowl. “Eagles Super Bowl victory,” Cooper said. “Eagles. Eagles. I’m sick. I’m not lying.”

However, Pitt may be lying about the Eagles' propensity for losing. Only five teams have more wins (269) than Philadelphia since team owner Jeffrey Lurie bought the team in 1994. One of them just happens to be the Kansas City Chiefs, the team that beat the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII and the team that Pitt grew up watching while living in Springfield, Missouri.

Kansas City fans should hope that Pitt’s flippant remarks don’t come back to bite him. The Chiefs are just days away from playing the 49ers in Super Bowl LVII but are not favored to win the game.

For what it’s worth, the Eagles did beat the Chiefs 21-17 in Week 11, but after losing six of their last seven games, Philly fans don’t have much to say.

More must-reads:

TODAY'S BEST
The most influential movies ever made
20 period pieces you should watch
Longtime ‘SportsCenter’ anchor announces he is leaving ESPN
Second chances: Notable bands and musicians who experienced a career resurgence
The 25 most entertaining horror movies
The 20 concert tours you can't miss in 2024
20 albums turning 50 in 2024
The 20 greatest heist movies
20 movies that should be adapted into musicals
Super Bowl LVIII halftime show takeaways
Brad Pitt shades Eagles while praising Philly superfan Bradley Cooper
The 20 best modern rom-coms
20 performances that thwarted audience expectations
Comedy gold: 20 funny films that won an Oscar
23 actors that need to have a renaissance
The best karaoke songs from the 2020s
20 great movies that didn’t get nominated at the 2024 Oscars
The 25 best movies about high-school sports
The 23 best films of 2023
The 50 best albums of 2023