There are some things that Jennifer Aniston just doesn’t like. On that list? Gaining weight, Angelina Jolie, and… walking down the red carpet solo. The former Friends star refused to attend the Golden Globes on her lonesome on Sunday night, so she and Gerard Butler planned to be each other’s dates. Seems Brad Pitt’s ex likes to have arm candy at large events to deflect some of the attention.

“Jen was the one that made it happen,” an insider tells BettyConfidential. “She is not comfortable being solo at these kinds of public shows and since the studio wanted her and Gerard there to promote The Bounty, it gave her the perfect date for the night. At smaller events she is OK to go with her friends or tag along with Courteney Cox and David Arquette, but in this case she wanted a man by her side.”

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“The plans were made and Gerard was not allowed to bring a date to the show,” our source continues. “Jen met him at the Beverly Hilton [where the Globes were being held]. He went along with it because he thought it would be good for the movie and it’s not difficult to spend an evening with Jen, but it was all work, no play.”

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Jen was nervous about seeing her blink-and-you'll-miss-it ex Bradley Cooper at the award show and the afterparties. “Having Gerry by her side made her interactions with everyone a little easier and when she saw Bradley it wasn’t so awkward,” the insider says. “She and Bradley had gone out on a couple of dinner dates last year but they never really hit it off, even though Jen was hoping they would. She told everyone about Bradley but soon after he was seriously dating Renee Zellweger. Meeting up again on Sunday night was bound to be awkward, but Bradley was very nice, said hello and kissed her on the cheek.”

Magazine and newspaper reporter Kelly Will has written celebrity columns for the New York Times, the New York Daily News and the New York Post. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/misswill.