Jolie: I didn't break up Brad and Jen

Hollywood siren Angelina Jolie has hit out at claims she was instrumental in the break-up of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, insisting she was only a 'shoulder to cry on' for the actor.

Since the former golden couple announced their separation earlier this month, rumours have persistently named Jolie, 29, as a deciding factor in the sudden split.

She and Pitt were reported to have become close on the set of their latest movie Mr and Mrs Smith, and pictures showing the two of them holding hands didn’t help quell the reports of an affair.

But twice-married Jolie, has angrily slammed the reports linking her to the 41-year-old Troy star — although she does hint that Pitt and Aniston's failure to start a family was at the source of their troubles.

"I've been painted as the Wicked Witch of the West and a marriage wrecker. But all I've ever been to Brad is a shoulder to cry on," she says.

"Half the world believes we had an affair and I'm the one to blame for his split. But the truth is I was there to try to help him through his pain.

"He longs to be a father and he's been in emotional turmoil for a long time because that hasn't happened for him."