Jennifer Aniston accused of giving director 'mean-spirited' rhinestone sex toy to 'humiliate' her on film set

Director Penelope Spheeris has accused Jennifer Aniston of gifting her a rhinestone-studded dildo to embarrass her on the set of their 2011 Lifetime movie Five.

Spheeris claimed that a producer presented her with the sex toy in a gift box, which she was left to open in front of her subordinates.

'It was a mean-spirited dildo to humiliate me in front of the whole crew,' the 80-year-old Wayne's World director insisted on The Moynihan Report.

Although the actress did not deliver the item, Spheeris was convinced she was the sender, as they later attended an awards ceremony where Aniston supposedly used the 'same kind of gift box' to give a present to Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman.

However, a source close to the situation told The Daily Mail that Aniston has 'no recollection of her ever having given this gift' and questioned why the Horrible Bosses star 'wouldn't have given a card' if she did offer Spheeris the sex toy. 

The Daily Mail has contacted Aniston and Spheeris' representatives for comment.

Spheeris reduced interviewer Michael Moynihan to fits of laughter by complaining that the dildo 'had rhinestones pasted on it. You couldn't even use it.' 

She and Aniston each directed separate segments of Five, which was an anthology of short films centered on the subject of breast cancer.

When one of her workdays finished, an assistant director asked Spheeris to sit down, whereupon 'the whole crew gathered around' her.

Spheeris claimed that a producer then approached her 'with a gift box, and I go: "Well, that's cute, so sweet." I open it. There's a f***in' dildo in there. In front of the whole crew, I'm supposed to open up a dildo. Thanks.'

Aniston, Spheeris and the other directors on Five - Demi Moore, Alicia Keys and Wonder Woman filmmaker Patty Jenkins - were all subsequently nominated at the Directors Guild Awards for outstanding direction of a TV film.

According to Spheeris' version of events, Aniston entered the ceremony with 'the same kind of gift box in her hand' as the one previously used for the sex toy.

'And she comes over to where I'm at and I said: "Oh, what you got in there, another dildo?" She said: "No, it's a present for Marta Kauffman,"' Spheeris said.

'But it was the same box. It was the same gift box. So those are Jennifer Aniston's gift box,' she said. 'So yeah, I'll get sued for that, but whatever.' 

Spheeris rose to prominence in the 1980s with a trio of documentaries about underground Los Angeles music called The Decline of Western Civilization.

As the decade wore on, she helmed the 1987 dark comedy Dudes, starring Jon Cryer 16 years before he achieved international fame on Two and a Half Men.

She continued making her mark in big screen comedy, including with Wayne's World, the beloved 1992 romp led by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, both reprising characters they had originated on Saturday Night Live.

Her filmography also includes a 1993 movie adaptation of the classic 1950s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, a modest box office success that was savaged by the critics.

The motion picture version featured such names as Baywatch actress Elena Eleniak and comedy icon Lily Tomlin, with guest appearances by Dolly Parton and Zsa Zsa Gabor and even a cameo by the original sitcom's leading man Buddy Ebsen. 

Spheeris is a first cousin of the renowned Greek filmmaker Costa-Gavras, a political director best known for his 1969 release Z, which was a dark satire of the military coup that had unfolded in Athens two years earlier.

As such she is an aunt of music video director Romain Gavras, an ex-boyfriend of Dua Lipa who is currently involved with Emily Ratajkowski.