She is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful women in the world, so it’s a feat that Angelina Jolie has been separated from Brad Pitt for eight years and has seldom faced romance rumours, let alone paparazzi shots of her with a ‘mystery man’.

This, however, has all changed. Jolie was spotted with rapper and activist Akala, whose real name is Kingslee McLean Daley, at the Venice Film Festival in September. Before they could even alight from their water taxi, they were being hailed as Hollywood’s most unexpected new couple.

Last week, The Sun even suggested that they had spent two ‘romantic’ nights at The Corinthia hotel together before the premiere of Jolie’s film Maria at the London Film Festival. They were then pictured on the red carpet at said premiere, albeit separately.

Despite the chatter, a source stressed to People in late August that Jolie and Akala ‘are not dating’. In fact, they said, Jolie is even friends with Akala’s long-term partner Chanelle Newman, ‘who was also there’ with them in Venice.

So, why won’t the rumours go away? Well, they have certainly been spending a fair amount of time together,  taking trips to Venice, Milan, Jamaica, New York and London.

They are ‘similarly minded’ which has been a firm base for their friendship, said Grazia’s source, with their shared passion for activism and the arts bringing them closer together. If a report in the Daily Mail is to be believed, Akala, best known for his writings about race, class and the British Empire, has even been educating Jolie on Britain’s colonial past and the country’s most prominent Black figures. 

Whether romantic or not, it’s a relationship that has piqued interest, Jolie is after all tabloid catnip. A source tells Grazia that she’s not dignifying the rumours with any response for now – instead she is busy promoting her Oscar-tipped turn in the forthcoming Maria, the Maria Callas biopic. ‘She is just doing her thing with Akala by her side and enjoying their time together immensely.’

The Akala speculations are the first of their kind since Jolie’s alleged romance with The Weeknd in 2021. They were spotted on a few ‘dinner dates’ and some fans went as far as to think The Weeknd song ‘Here We Go… Again’ was about the 49-year-old actress. But no relationship was ever confirmed.

After years of dealing with her acrimonious divorce from Pitt, which is yet to be finalised eight years after they split, it’s hardly surprising that she prefers to keep her cards close to her chest.

‘It’s no secret that Angelina has been somewhat reticent to trust her heart again,’ Grazia’s source adds. ‘She doesn’t want another situation where her romance plays out in the spotlight.’ If she is romantically involved with anyone again, it’s not something she’ll be in any hurry to talk about.