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Brad Pitt broke some bad news to his French fans earlier today, begging out of the Cannes debut of his latest movie via an e-mail explaning his absence from the festival:

"With the imminent arrival of the newest addition to our family, I am unable to join Alejandro, Cate, Gael and the rest of the cast and crew in introducing" his new film, "Babel," the 42-year-old actor said in the message.

"I am tremendously proud of `Babel' and want to congratulate everyone involved for this great achievement," Pitt said.

For shame. Had Pitt followed the example of another one of Hollywood's most visible couples and abandoned his quaint attachment to the genital-genital-contact method of celebrity infant production and instead opted for the far more schedule-friendly extrautero, baster-based options available to the rich and famous, he and his inconveniently swollen, immobile partner wouldn't have had to shirk off his promotional obligations and squander some incredibly valuable red carpet photo opportunities.