HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Josh Hopkins is still upset about a tabloid report that suggested he went out on a date with Jennifer Aniston and later rejected her.
"That was really, really weird and hurtful," the 40-year-old Cougar Town star tells Parade magazine. "I’ve been working in this business for a long time and it’s the first time I’ve ever found myself caught up in the middle of tabloid journalism. It was eye opening to see that a publication could pick up a story from a completely fabricated, unnamed source and create a so-called story."
"It was just because of one picture," he continues. "And in this day and age, it gets picked up on the Internet and blogosphere and gets perpetuated, and it just grows like wildfire."
Having flown under the radar in the past, Hopkins says the experience opened his eyes to what some of his fellow peers endure on a regular basis.
"It just felt dirty and invasive," he says. "It gave me so much empathy for real celebrities, people that have lived with this frenzied scrutiny for their entire life. I don’t know how some people keep from getting completely jaded and fearful. It’s a testament to some of the real people who have to really deal with this because it was disturbing for me for just a little while."
When it comes to his actual dating life, Hopkins has a few important qualities that he looks for in a potential girlfriend.
"I look for sense of humor, and by that I just mean a girl that would laugh at my jokes," he says. "That doesn’t necessarily mean a good sense of humor! And I don’t like real clingy. I like some independence and I like them to have some independence too."
