With Brad Pitt turning 61 this month, he’s hoping to turn the tide and reunite with his kids during the holiday season. However, it all seems unlikely. The endless stream of media coverage surrounding the Jolie-Pitt family estrangement has repeatedly established that Brad Pitt is not a fan of the distance between himself and his children.
The endless stream of media coverage surrounding the Jolie-Pitt family estrangement has repeatedly established that Brad Pitt is not a fan of the distance between himself and his children.
Although moving forward on the personal front with his new girlfriend Ines de Ramon, the Oscar winner is struggling to find a way back to his kids amid the holiday season. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the Hollywood star is on his way to celebrating his 61st birthday as well. However, given his seemingly never-to-cease legal tussle with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, sources maintain that he still believes that she is doing everything in her capacity to cut him off from their six kids.
Alluding to the Maleficent actress and her son Knox’s rare joint red carpet appearance at the 2024 Governors Awards, a source revealed to InTouchWeekly how “very hard” it was for Pitt “to see photos” of the two “because he hardly gets to see him.”
The insider pushed that while the F1 actor is “proud” of his 16-year-old son and “has no issue with him getting out there and making a name for himself,” he can’t help but feel that it accounts for a “calculated” move from Jolie’s side to “mess with him.”
Over the year, multiple reports have cited sources voicing Pitt’s heartbreak over how some of his kids have also gone to great lengths in demonstrating extra support for their mother while apparently pushing him to the sidelines.
As part of Brad and Angelina’s ongoing fierce legal battle since their 2016 separation, the Jolie-Pitt kids Zahara, Shiloh and Vivienne have made noticeable moves to get rid of their father’s surname. Earlier this year, Vivienne, 16, appeared to have dropped “Pitt” from her name as the playbill for the new musical The Outsiders, which she helped her mom produce, listed her as “Vivienne Jolie” instead of “Vivienne Jolie-Pitt.
In a late November 2023 video shared by Essence, 19-year-old Zahara also introduced herself as merely “Zahara Marley Jolie” while pledging Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at Spelman college.
Most significantly, Shiloh, who turned 18 this year, legally approached the matter to alter her name. In August, it was reported that her name change petition was granted, allowing her to drop “Pitt.”
The 60-year-old Mr and Mrs Smith actor “is pretty much used” to this dysfunctional connection (or the lack thereof) with his children, said the source. Nevertheless, it doesn’t take away the fact that it’s still “upsetting” for him. Speaking for Pitt, the insider doubled down against the Salt actress, “Every year she pulls some sort of stunt around the holidays that’s so obviously aimed at hurting him.”
They further explained, “Whether it’s taking the kids far away for a trip over the holidays to make it next to impossible for him to see them or filing something with the courts to throw a wrench into things.”
Even though Pitt would “love to see his kids,” he’s “trying not to get sucked down by it” as “he can’t control” Jolie’s actions. The insider concluded, “All he can do is focus on getting his court mandated time with his kids and being the best dad he can be.”
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie initially filed to call off their marriage in 2016. They have been legally since 2019. However, their divorce is still pending, with the addition of clashing over a $164 million French estate and winery, Chateau Miraval, they originally jointly owned. The former couple shares six children: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne. In July, a source told People that Pitt had “virtually no contact” with his adult kids. The insider added, “[Angelina] has the kids most of the time, but per their agreement, he has visitation with the younger kids.”
Earlier this week, Page Six reported that the Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is “missing” his children and he “wishes he had a closer relationship with them, particularly with celebrating the holidays and his birthday this month.”
