With a lot of the years-long legal conflicts between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, I often miss the forest for the trees. I’m so focused on the minutiae of legal filings, lawsuits and Brad’s unhinged crisis management, I miss the fact that at some point, the broad strokes actually reached the wider public. A lot of people understand that Pitt terrorized his wife and children on the plane in 2016. A lot of people understand – now – that the kids want nothing to do with Pitt and that Angelina Jolie was right to take her children out of an abusive situation. Shiloh Jolie’s name change was sort of a turning point for this whole eight-years-long story, as was Brad’s reaction to it (panic briefings). Well, I’m not sure how much stock to put in this In Touch Weekly story, but apparently Brad is ready to wave a white flag of surrender.
It wasn’t exactly a Father’s Day to remember for Brad Pitt. On June 16, his daughter Vivienne was celebrating nearly 3,000 miles from L.A. with her mom, Angelina Jolie, at the 77th annual Tony Awards in NYC. The snub came on the heels of Brad’s other daughter Shiloh filing legal paperwork on May 27 — her 18th birthday — to have his last name officially removed from her surname (Vivienne, 15, and sister Zahara, 19, have also dropped “Pitt”).
“Brad’s kids,” an insider exclusively tells In Touch, “want nothing to do with him.”
It seems the 60-year-old is the biggest casualty in his epic divorce and custody battle with Angelina, 49. Now a source tells In Touch the Bullet Train star is ready to call a truce with his ex in a desperate attempt to repair his relationship with his kids. (The exes — who split in 2016 — also share Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, and Knox, 15.)
“Never in a million years did Brad imagine this yearslong fight and rivalry,” says the source of the two, who are also currently wrangling over the sale of her share of their winery Château Miraval. “He’s willing to throw his hands up and surrender.” Says the source: “The kids’ dropping Brad’s name is just the tip of the iceberg.”
He regrets prioritizing his war with their mom. “Brad spent a lot of time and money trying to do what he thought was the right thing for his kids, but now he’s wondering if it was worth it,” says the source, noting that the big reason he wants to keep Miraval is to pass it down to the children. “Miraval was something for the kids to have and build on when he’s gone, but if they don’t want it, it’s a moot point.”
To get through to them, Brad knows he must make peace with Angelina first. He’s ready to make concessions. In late May, a judge ordered Angelina to produce every NDA (nondisclosure agreement) she signed with a third party between the years 2014 to 2022. Brad hoped to disprove her claim that she refused to sell her half of Miraval to him because he demanded she sign an NDA. (Her team said Brad was trying to silence her from speaking about abuse allegations against him.)
Now, says the source, “Brad is saying there will be no more demands for NDAs.”
Waving a white flag may be Brad’s only hope for a relationship with his kids. “He’s sorry for everything that went down, and he knows he wasn’t a model husband or dad during the time they were together.” Now sober, adds the source, “he is a better person.” He’s giving the kids space, for now. “Brad knows he can’t force the issue and he can’t make his children want to see him,” continues the source. “It has to be on their terms, but he’ll be there when they’re ready.”
As I said, I don’t know how much stock to put in this, but I do think that this part is especially interesting: “Brad spent a lot of time and money trying to do what he thought was the right thing for his kids, but now he’s wondering if it was worth it…Miraval was something for the kids to have and build on when he’s gone, but if they don’t want it, it’s a moot point.” So the whole reason he was financially abusing Angelina for years and trying to keep her silent on the abuse was so that the kids could inherit Miraval one day? Meanwhile, he kicked Angelina and the kids out of Miraval AND his LA home as soon as Angelina filed for divorce. “I’m doing this for my kids” while banning the kids from Miraval out of spite is quite a choice.
I do believe the larger story about the kids despising him and wanting nothing to do with him, and he’s just realizing now – now that Shiloh is 18 years old – that it’s going to get publicly messy in a hurry if he continues to screw over Angelina and the kids choose to talk about it. But mostly I think the “white flag of surrender” is about Brad getting his ass handed to him in three different courts. Not only is Angelina winning significant battles in their legal issues, but Yuri Shefler is probably going to end up owning Miraval outright by the end of this.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.