Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have separated after 4 1/2 years of marriage but remain "committed and caring friends," the couple said on Friday. (Photo: Yahoo)

    BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have separated after 4 1/2 years of marriage but remain "committed and caring friends," the couple said on Friday.

    "We would like to announce that after seven years together we have decided to formally separate," Pitt and Aniston, who first met on a dinner date in 1998, said in a joint statement initially published by People magazine on its Web site.

    "For those who follow these sorts of things, we would like to explain that our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media," the statement said.

    "This decision is a result of much thoughtful consideration. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another. We ask in advance for your kindness and sensitivity in the coming months."

    Pitt, 41, current starring in the big-screen crime caper "Ocean's Twelve" and Aniston, 35, who became a household name on the long-running NBC television comedy "Friends," met on a dinner date in 1998. They were married in a lavish, celebrity-studded wedding in the seaside California resort of Malibu on July 29, 2000.

    The couple's publicists offered no further comment.

(Agencies)