Christina Applegate reveals famous rocker she ditched Brad Pitt for at awards show

Mekishana PierreTue, March 3, 2026 at 10:41 PM UTC

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Brad Pitt and Christina Applegate attend the 1989 MTV Video Music AwardsCredit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Christina Applegate is finally revealing the long-held identity of the rock star she ditched Brad Pitt for after the 1989 MTV VMAs.

In her new memoir, You With the Sad Eyes, Applegate recalls the momentum of fame that led to her asking Pitt to be her date to the awards ceremony. The now-54-year-old was 17 at the time and feeling on top of the world at the peak of her Married…With Children tenure as Kelly Bundy.

"We had been platonic pals for the longest time," Applegate says of Pitt in excerpts of her old journals. "He'd often swing by my 750-square-foot row house with a tiny door, and we'd have barbecues and hang out, always part of a much bigger group."

While Applegate initially only saw Pitt in a friendly light as she crushed hard on other members of their friend group, including a young Johnny Depp, she recalls gaining stronger feelings stirring for the Seven actor, then 25, as time went on.

"One day I took another look at Brad and thought, 'Hmm...' Apparently, he did the same, and so I invited him to the awards," the Dead to Me star writes.

Applegate shares that Pitt was "the perfect date," offering to pick up her mom, Nancy Priddy, and her best friend at the time, Johnny Depp’s ex-wife Lori Allison, since she had to arrive at the venue earlier to rehearse her appearance. She decided to wear a classy Ceil Chapman gown to the ceremony that made her feel so "incredible," which was rare for the teen who confessed to intense struggles with self-esteem and disordered eating.

"I felt so powerful and sure of myself for once that when the awards show was over, I left with Sebastian Bach, not Brad Pitt," she goes on to reveal. "I had spent all night staring at Bach, who was then a long-haired hunk fronting the band Skid Row. I hate to put it like this, but Brad back then was still making his way as an actor, and he wasn't yet THE Brad Pitt, the man of so many people's dreams."

Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach circa 1989Credit: Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty

But losing his date wasn't the end of the night for Pitt; the actor still had to drive Applegate's mom and Lori home after the event was over.

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"Apparently, at a gas station on the way, Brad almost got into a fight with a bunch of gang members, and, not surprisingly, was subsequently very mad at me," Applegate shares. "We didn't talk for many years after that."

The Sweetest Thing star mused on how Pitt shared the story with "two of his movie star girlfriends," who would ask her if she was "the girl who left Brad behind at the MTV Video Music Awards."

Brad Pitt and Christina Applegate during 1989 MTV Video Music Awards in Los AngelesCredit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Applegate has never shied away from admitting that claim to fame — during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen back in 2015, she confirmed that the rumor was indeed true, without revealing Bach's identity at the time. She admitted that she and the mystery man didn't go on to date after that night and also confirmed that she did not date Pitt after that.

Looking back on the experience in her memoir, Applegate shares that she and Pitt "eventually" came to terms with the events of that night and made up.

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"He agreed that I'd been a kid, and though he'd deserved much better, it was time to forgive the child who dumped him for the lead singer of Skid Row," she added. "Of course, Brad is now THE Brad Pitt, and Sebastian Bach . . . well, he still has long hair, I guess."

Much of Applegate's memoir reveals the chaos that she internalized during her life prior to stardom, and how that snowballed as she grew older. From the abuse her mother endured to the actress' own experiences with abusive relationships and sexual assault, Applegate bears the vulnerability of her younger self as she grapples with how her past has molded her into the woman she is today.

You With the Sad Eyes is now available to purchase wherever books are sold.

on Entertainment Weekly

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