I have zero clue why Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s custody drama is “coming to a head” this week in particular. By all accounts, they’ve been fighting about custody for a year and a half. Remember this story from December 2016? Eighteen months ago, Angelina’s lawyer got a temporary custodial agreement in place and Brad’s lawyers went apesh-t because parts of the agreement went public and people learned that he was being drug tested by the court, and that Angelina – that devilish witch! – simply wanted the child psychologists to temporarily determine what the kids were up for, as far seeing Brad. By all accounts, Angelina still has primary custody and Brad only has limited visitation, and neither parent can “force” any of the kids to visit Brad, per the child psychologist’s advice.
After that December 2016 meltdown by Brad’s team, the custodial situation was sealed and has remained sealed. From what I’ve seen, Angelina’s team hasn’t leaked a thing about custody in particular (they’ve leaked about other stuff, but not custody), while Brad’s team has been doing the most to repair his image as a caring father who only got drunk and “put his hands” on Maddox ONCE. Which brings us to this week, for some reason. Angelina is already in England filming Maleficent 2. The kids are with her. Everyone has known that she’s going to be filming Maleficent in England this year. It’s her first acting gig in years, and the first big job she’s taken since she left Brad. But for some reason, Brad’s team is doing the most to let us know that he’s going to be in LA all summer, working on Quentin Tarantino’s Manson-murder movie, and that he won’t “let” Angelina take the kids to England (she’s already there, with the kids) and she’s “furious” about it. Now E! News is here to carry water for Brad once again:
It’s been almost two years since Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt. However, the drama surrounding their custody agreement continues. A source tells E! News the celebrity parents are “at odds over custody” of their six children—Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne. This dispute is reportedly “why the divorce is not final” and has “dragged on for months.”
“The latest issue is that Angelina wants to film in Europe for months and take all six kids with her for the duration of the shoot,” the insider tells E! News. “Brad is opposed to that and is blocking it from happening. Brad will be filming in L.A. for the summer and wants to see the kids on his regular custody schedule.”
The source tells E! News Jolie is “furious” with the situation. However, it looks like Pitt isn’t pleased with it, either.
“He’s not OK with his kids being away for months,” the insider continues. “He feels that Los Angeles is their home base and this is where it is best for them to be.”
However, this doesn’t mean that Jolie can’t travel with her kids at all. The actress already took Shiloh and Zahara to Jordan in January to visit a refugee camp. She also brought all of her children to Paris that same month. The insider tells E! News Jolie recently travelled to England, as well.
“Angelina has been in London and is free to travel for shorter periods of time,” the source says. “Brad isn’t opposed to that. But she can’t leave with the kids for several months.”
Why is this issue being raised – IN THE PRESS – when Brad has known about Angelina’s schedule for months? It was no secret – the trade papers announced all of the Maleficent 2 scheduling last year, and she’s already in England. From where I sit, it doesn’t look like Brad actually has a say in Angelina’s schedule whatsoever. From where I sit, it doesn’t seem like the two older boys have any interest in having a relationship with Brad anymore. And if Brad wants to see the four younger children, then maybe he shouldn’t have scheduled a project in LA for the exact same time. I’m sure that Angelina isn’t stopping Brad from visiting the kids in England. Why all this drama again? Ugh.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid & Pacific Coast News.
I’m sorry, but taking the kids out of country for several months wouldn’t be okay with me either. If they have a custody schedule, it should be kept to.
But he has known about this for over a year. He had a free schedule and the ability to have his custody schedule overseas but then he decided to schedule a film that films at the same.
We don’t know if he was ever okay with it, though.
How do we know he was OK with it?
The reality is that you cannot take children out of the country for months at a time without the other parent’s consent. This is child custody 101.
Keep in mind they’re spending months in the UK with a team of nannies while Angelina works 14 hours a day. Why not have the kids spend time with Brad until his film work actually starts and then they can trade?
My understanding is that Brad’s gig is still a ways away. Jolie’s film has already started production.
I agree. LA is considered their home, being away from ‘home’ for half a year would certainly affect the father’s right to see his children. If I were the father in this situation, I wouldn’t want my kids away (essential living in a different country) for half a year.
Get you fact right, is not half year is 4 months top or less. Both can travel either way, but Brad is whining via tabloids and that’s wrong, why can he talk her in private and sort it out custody issue instead running to the tabloids.
he is not in prison he has plenty of resources to go to London. This is not your regular couple. I am not a Brad or AJ apologist, but this surely could be managed out of the press and courts, he did not have a problem with AJ’s Maleficent 1 schedule, nor she whined about his busy filming schedules prior to the breakup.
He could get his butt on a plane and hire a sober companion over there to get to see hs kids. They have plenty of money to make it work.
Brad, as a man and a producer, can have the luxury of taking time off while AJ, a woman in her 40’s will not have as many job opportunities as he does and will, nor will she command as much money as he is. He should cooperate in this instance, it is a big project and he could have sculpted and produced his art in London, too , if he hadn’t signed to QT’s ugly project.
A decent father does not traumatize his children.
I agree and I don’t think that is even a controversial answer. There are plenty of divorced people that have to deal with a new reality. Also, most people don’t have the cash or means that these two do. Planes fly both directions so she can easily do her job and see her kids while still abiding by their agreement.
Is it fair? C’mon, as an adult it should already have been learned that life isn’t fair.
I agree too. If he is trying to rebuild and repair relationships with any or all of the kids, then he needs to see them regularly. The longer they are alienated, the harder it will be.
I imagine the reason that the divorce hasn’t been finalised is because the sticking point is custody, and Pitt isn’t happy with the temporary sole physical custody that Jolie got, whereas she is perfectly happy with it. They both need to learn to compromise for the sake of the kids.
@Agapanthus,
Yes, both parents need to compromise. Each will find themselves in need of the others accommodation at some point in their children’s lifetime. Also, this inability to compromise may point to one reason why they fought in front of their children and, ultimately, led to their divorce. The plane situation was the symptom of a greater problem with these two.
Agreed on all counts.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Maybe he should get his erratic behaviour, drinking, and violent/abusive tendencies and actions under control or make assurances to Jolie before getting the kids? Just a thought.
When I was 13, my step-father got a job promotion and we were supposed to move to overseas for that job. My father who had visitation every Sunday hired a lawyer and stopped my brother and I from leaving the country. My mother had primary custody and my dad scheduled visitation. It was a big drama in the family at the time. On one hand, I get why Brad’s upset, as he’d like to see his kids, but as others have stated, he’s known Angelina schedule for a while now. He shouldn’t have taken the job with QT if he wanted to see them.
I’m guessing he doesn’t want to set that precedent, that he has to schedule everything around her work. They need to figure out how they’re going to schedule their work and where the kids will be during that time and get it all in writing. The best thing for the kids would probably be that they don’t work at the same time, just like when they were together.
I don’t understand why it has to be so black and white between them. Why would they have to stay in London for several months and not just travel back and forth every two weeks or something? I think a lot of this stuff is not even about the kids, it’s about them hating each other as hard as they loved each other before. That kind of passion was never going to be sustainable as a positive force between them.
From the beginning he refused Q movie because of schedule then 2 months ago he accepted and I don’t why he took the role knowing Angie was filming Maleficent this summer. Also spent last years traveling to Europe.
he’s stayed in France for the summer for several years, as far as I know. I think the children are used to be in Europe during those months. He could have been in agreement in this instance, as AJ has not worked as much these past months/years but he chose not to…
Exactly. In most every state, one parent can’t up and take the children out of the state – much less the country – for more than a visit. It’s the presumption that what is in the best interests of the children is for them to have stability and not to be uprooted:
These “move-away cases” are among the most difficult of custody disputes. Typically, a child can’t be removed from his state of residence without prior approval from the court that issued the original custody order. A custodial parent that wants to move a child out-of -state must first obtain court permission.
My take is going to England for months at a time is tantamount to moving, and she’s not going to be able to do it without either dad’s approval or the court’s permission.
@Goats on the Roof I agree.
In general I agree with this, but wouldn’t she have had to clear this with the courts first? And this had to be known for a long time, it’s not like they took off in the middle of the night, so he had to have some awareness of it for quite a while.
Either way, I agree they should try to abide by the agreement as much as possible, and both parents should make an effort here – he should go visit them in England (or NY, more half way), and she should be open to it if the kids want it. These people have gobs of money and private planes, they can easily make it happen.
He has known about Angelina going to be in England since last year and yet HE decides to accept a role at the same time.
Why should she have to quit her role and not him? Because she is a woman? Or because as a white man, Brad is excused as usual?
By the same token, she knew that she was in the middle of a custody dispute when she took the job. That said, neither should have to quit their respective jobs. That will solve nothing as this situation will be a re-occuring one for them. I can see why custody is being contentious.
Or Angelina accepted the role with Brad’s agreement but then Brad signed onto his new role and now decided to play uncool???
@Maya,
That is a lot of assumptions. I was stating what we know are facts. Also. I don’t think the court’s would approve that behavior on Pitts part. He would be hurting his own case with the courts.
Because filming schedules NEVER change, right?
For the time being the children’s home is California which is why that judicial system is overseeing the custody arrangements. Brad accepted a job in the state that his children live. Of course he knew Angelina had a job scheduled for England but he’s not planning his schedule around Angelina. He is scheduling his work around his custody agreement and his children’s home. Angelina unfortunately doesn’t have the option to film in California at the moment but that is why she would be the party that needed to make other arrangements for visitation. If Brad scheduled a movie in England and Angelina’s was in California than the onus would be on him to make other arrangements for visitation.
This isn’t going to be a one time problem either. There are going to be times each of them are out of the country for work so whatever visitation arrangement they have will require whatever parent is not available at home to make arrangements to see the children. That is personally inconvenient for each parent I’m sure but they’re divorcing each other not their children.
I am a big fan of Angelina, but I really have to agree.
As Kaiser points out, we don’t actually know what is happening behind the scenes in their divorce. Maybe Brad has been working incredibly hard at rehabilitation and repairing his relationship with his kids, and maybe not. Maybe he has been fighting Angelina’s decision to move the kids to England this whole time and is frustrated they have not reached an agreement, and maybe not. Maybe he took the job in LA on purpose because he does not want to allow the precedent that she can take the kids out of the country for months at a time, and wanted to have an answer if the court stated, well you are rich and not doing anything, so just fly there. Or maybe he is just being a jerk.
But allowing your kids to be taken out of the country for a long time is a BIG deal. I don’t think it is wrong of him to fight it.
Yeah, I know this site tends to be very pro-Jolie in general, and I like Jolie and I get that Pitt screwed up with his kids re: addiction issues and has a lot to make up for. However, that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be given the chance to make amends if he has shown he’s serious about cleaning up his act. Jolie seems to be more of a scorched earth type – now that they’re done, it seems like she wants to just close the door on him, but you don’t get to do that when you have kids. For all this talk about him smearing her in the tabloids, she’s also very savvy when it comes to media manipulation, and I think her desire to control the situation does make parental alienation an issue. I don’t think she’s a bad parent or person, maybe it just goes with the territory when two very powerful egos who’ve both been very successful at controlling the media and their image for decades break up. But I don’t think the situation is as black and white/ Jolie good, Pitt bad as is consistently reported on this site.
@zikifly Come sit by me, because you just spoke my mind.
She gets along great with all her exes. Which of her actions are scorched earth? She also loves her children and wants what is best for them, and what’s best for them is a father they love and are loved by, in their life. She knows this, that’s why she bought a house one mile from his compound.
I agree. I never did like Jolie, there is a creepy vibe to her in spite of the work she has done to rehabilitate her image. That said, if she is able to change her image from a brother tonguing, blood vial wearing doper then why isn’t Brad given the same opportunity. After all, at the same time she was acting all crazy, he was the only one to take Weinstein to task so she is not superior to him in any way.
Tessy: Brad took Weinstein to task? Don’t make me laugh… he went to act in a movie Weinstein produced and even took pictures with him.
Angelina not once worked with Weinstein nor ever pictured together. And at early 20s, she had more guts then others.
Again Angelina did all of her mistakes in her early 20s and matured like most people. Brad is having issues now in his 50s. Big difference.
More than that, Angelina never harmed others with her drug abuse while Brad, well we all know what he did to his children and damaged those relationships.
@ Tessy – you are making false comparisons. This story and comment thread is talking about child custody and visitation which has everything to do with quality of parenting and nothing to do with how either person acted over 16 years ago before having any kids.
Angelina rehabilitated her weirdo image after becoming a devoted mother and humanitarian (in other words, she grew up and started caring about other people). Brad is now trying to rehabilitate his image after verbally and physically abusing his son 2 years ago. She used to be weird in her 20’s. He very recently (in his 50’s) abused his son and alienated his family. Apples/oranges. One is relevant to child custody, one is not.
I agree with Zikifly that it’s 100% not black and white and she can’t be all good and he can’t be all bad. Tess’s takeaway that she is not superior to him in any way is overgeneralizing. Again, for purposes of child custody and visitation, which is what we’re talking about here, no one has ever said that Angelina is a threat or a danger or abusive to her kids and that has been alleged against Brad, so…yeah – I think she does have that advantage on him here.
Updated to say I didn’t see Maya’s comment before posting, but seems like we are saying the same thing!
Jolie did not work with Weinstein. This gets mentioned a lot and I’ve held my tongue. But you do realize she did work with the Cambodian government and Army, including former Khmer Rouge members when she made FTKMF. She’s not above turning a blind eye to pursue a goal.
This, Kate. It’s interesting how there sometimes seems to be a difference in how celebrity male drug/alcohol use and celebrity female drug/alcohol use are judged. Older male rockers and actors can openly tell stories about all that they messed with back when they were in their 20’s, and it’s generally seen as no big deal or even a cute, funny story. But when famous women do the same stuff while actually in their 20’s, not only are they viewed as tarnished at that time (with all the moral panics and concern trolling), but even years later when they’ve grown up it’s still brought up like something that taints them.
ITA: Plus we don’t really know what’s going on behind the scenes other that there are sticking points that are holding up the divorce nearly two years on.
I’m not for or against Brad or Angie in this case. It does seem like Brad has been trying to clean up his act. I can understand why he doesn’t want the kids gone for four months — especially Knox and Viv who are the youngest. It would be great for all concerned if Brad and Angie could compromise.
He had zero problems taking these kids all over the world for months at a time when they were married. These kids have never had a “home base” and this is their norm, that he was totally fine with before. He has ulterior motives with this objection, seems like he’s testing the waters to see if his new relationship is spinning him in a more positive light and people will start taking his side again. From the comments here, seems like it’s working.
That is a good point!
@HNMMom,
The thing is that they aren’t married anymore and we don’t even know if they are on speaking terms. Expecting feuding exes to travel for one another’s convenience is highly unrealistic. There is a reason people divorce and it isnt to spend more time with the other, travel for the others convenience, or arrange their life to suit that person. This is particularly true in cases where accusations have been made and one parent wants sole custody.
I don’t think anyone expects Jolie to follow Pitt on his next overseas shoot and they shouldn’t.
This isn’t in regards to what you’ve posted but, Last of all, both are super privileged and neither has to work. I think both should if they want to but acting like the children won’t be fed one way or the other is ridiculous. Neither is used to compromise or being told “no”. I hope court takes control.
We also don’t know if he didn’t have a problem.
hnmmmom:
Most people on most sites took Pitt’s side from the beginning, so he doesn’t need to hype a new relationship to be seen in a positive light in relation to the kids. More likely he feels he needs a new relationship to say, “look at me, I’ve moved on – not pining over Angelina.”
Brad can fly to the UK and see the kids whenever there isn’t a concert he’d rather attend.
The kids are where they seem the happiest, with their Mother, the only reliable parental figure in their lives.
I agree with you. I’m not sure he has been able to visit or have his kids much or at all since she filed for divorce. You never see him with them. If I were him, I would be getting tougher also. He has a right to see and spend time with his children. He needs to establish a visitation agreement that is kept constant. The longer he lets it go, the less likely he will be to have a relationship with his kids. I think he is doing the right thing also.
Why are people acting like Angelina is making all of the decisions? This is all judges and therapists decisions. If Brad has a problem go to court. Blaming Angelina doesn’t make sense. Clearly Brad is trying to say Angelina isn’t following the custody agreement but again why doesn’t he go to court?
It’s always difficult when divorced/separated parents live so far from one another. That happened to a friend – his ex took their kids to the opposite coast. He was lucky to be able to wrangle enough time to visit them frequently on weekends, but most people would not have in-demand rare skills to pull that off or the money to travel so far. This was before the days of easy communication via cell phones and Skype and FaceTime, which all really completely change the situation for long-distance parenting.
But they must have come to some agreement in this – as others have said, judges will typically insist on that.
Yeah – a general expectation post divorce is that both parents establish a home base for the children, and stick to it. I think it’s unreasonable for her to expect that she can keep the kids so far away for that long without his agreement.
I agree, Goats on the roof. And these articles which attempt to paint Brad as poorly as possible are just overtly biased and absurd, b/c not one of us, CB writers included, are accurately aware or truly sure of the exact story/ stories of this divorcing couple. Neither Angie nor Brad, though, is an indifferent, uncaring villain in this tale: BOTH of them want more custody and time w their children. Hence choosing a “side” and mudslinging at the non favored party (Brad, on CB) is ludicrous, b/c so much on this site (and others) is merely personal make believe “speculation” and strong opinion and fan-ignited passion about personal beliefs, not facts, about the couple in the case. Knowing as little about their actual characters as the rest of you do, I just wish them both well—and I feel vey, very sorry for their children.
@goatsontheroof I completely agree. I wouldn’t be ok with that eithet
@goatsonthe roof. I completely agree. I wouldn’t be ok with ex-spouse taking my kids to another country for that length of time. No way
Dads generally get the shaft in custody situations. I don’t think brad is a bad person for being upset that his kids are so far away. She may not have had an acting gig in years, but hasn’t she been traveling around all this time? I don’t think it’s fair to fault him for being upset that he can’t see his kids.
But he can see them, that’s the point. He’s known for a year what her plans were. He’s the one that decided to ground himself for a Tarantino film because he’s desperate for a hit movie. His last five have bombed badly, Quentin is his last chance to prove he’s still a superstar. Does he really expect the ex and all the kids to drop all their plans for the summer to cater to him and his decisions? If this story were at all true, then I’d think he’s about to find out life isn’t always fair, either.
In cases where a Judge decides custody- dad’s usually DON’T get the shaft. When they fight for it, they often get equal or more custody than the mom. Usually by male judges and the skewing of the mom as being not good enough in some way.
The reason more moms than dads have primary custody is because dads often don’t want that much of the responsibility, especially if they have never been in that role before. That’s why most custody is done by agreement. With time and money being argued, but not often argued about primary care givers, b/c (often) men don’t want that job.
Preach, girl! I was a family lawyer for 20 years and it’s true that while most men will fight for access to their kids, very few will fight for full custody unless they believe their child/ren are in danger with the mother. I saw that men who fought for custody had a good chance of getting it or at least getting a 50/50 split. Most men were content to have continued steady access to their kids. If the woman had been the primary caregiver during the marriage and she was OK with the man having regular access, most men would be satisfied with that and would not fight for more.
He forgets that he was allowed to live with them for years…..what did he do with that twelve or thirteen year opportunity? ……..they deserve a break from him. He can’t just demand people forget the past. He’s just denying any wrong doing on his part by even expecting them to be around him……you can’t be at both ends of the spectrum. This nice guy act is just an act. Ask his kids.
If California is where they all live, I can see how her taking them with her to work in England would cause a problem. You can’t take your kids out of the country for months and impede the custody of the other parent… 🤷♀️
But if he really had joint custody, wouldn’t he just go to court? I don’t understand the strategy behind the press games.
He doesn’t have joint custody, from what I can understand he doesn’t even have official visitation rights.
Pitt still has legal custody just as he did before. Jolie has a temporary sole physical custody which still has her tied to whatever agreement is presently underway.
Pitt and Jolie are working through a private judge exactly because we won’t be privy to negotiations. We don’t even know the how much or little their custody situation has changed since the last official report. Maybe, the judge will have to step in to provide these kids with a definitive parenting plan. I’ll be glad, for their sake, when it’s done.
Then why he is crying to tabloids when their custody is private, why can’t he shut up and deal the problems privately?
California is where they live because Angelina bought a house in close proximity to Brad. To make sure for visitations and stuff. And now she is supposed to be the evil villainess again because she has a work schedule?! Where are the people who were all like ‘surely you can’t expect Brad to stay home all the time’ when he is seen working or partying. Can we please extend the same humanity to Angelina? Can she film a movie each other year? Can Brad’s team stop whining? And maybe sober up and don’t go ‘face to face’ with your teenage son when you want your kids to like you. Crazy idea, I know.
@Llamas,
No one is villainizing Jolie for her work schedule. Rather, people realize that most divorced or divorcing parents don’t get to take their kids overseas because they have a job there. Many married people wouldn’t want to take their kids or their spouse wouldn’t want them to either. Pitt won’t get to when he is overseas, now or ever, without Jolie’s permission.
Divorce isn’t new anymore. We all know how it works. None of this should be surprising. This is why Jolie filed for Sole custody and Pitt for joint. Due to those disparate filings and the desires established therein, we knew that their would be problems. So did they which is why they filed thusly.
If the court thinks one of them have a case for Sole custody then they will handle it. Pitt and /or Jolie don’t appear to be budging.
Which is why Brad needs to shut up about it in the press – it’s tacky – and allow the kids to travel. Nothing horrible will happen to change the relationship to his kids in few months. However, if he insist on them staying in Cali, they will be without their primary caretaker. Yes, they have nanys but they are still too young to live without parental care for months on time. And they can’t stay with Brad. He still only is allowed supervised visitation a couple of days a week, a couple of hours each. I just can’t see how him insisting on California is in the best interest for the kids. If I were him, I would let them go and throw them a party upon their return from Great Britain. This is the point where he needs to compromise. Angelina compromised on working less and living close to him.
It’s quite common for divorced parents to not be able to move/leave the area for work without losing their custodial rights during that time. That’s the way it works for everyone. Angelina and Brad or no different. It’s not about casting Angelina as the villain (clearly the divorce was Brad’s fault). And Brad will have to play by the same rules.
Yeah Llama in PJs, The only way this was leaked is from Brad’s team. He is trying to court public opinion. So Jolie would look like the villain. Since her work schedule was set up a year ago, he knew what the summer would be like.
If the older kids have no desire to see him, there must have been significant things happening prior to the split.
@millenial That’s not how it works when the noncustodial parent has supervised visitation. He does not have the right to be their primary caretaker at this time, thus Angelina does not–could not– relinquish her rights when she needs to travel for work. And it’s frankly a ridiculous argument when it comes to this situation. Brad seems to be doing what’s in the best interest of his ego, not the children. Taking them away from their primary caregiver in order to go to limited supervised visits is selfish on Brads part, period. Not the other way around as his PR is trying to allude to.
I thought that it was part of most divorces that you can’t take the kids out of state without the other spouses permission?
Not sure why this is all in the press…
Too true. I think it is simply that they are very famous people that are having a custody battle. Otherwise no one would raise an eyebrow.
This is a regular basic thing. My sister was unable to take her kids out of the state without her exhusbands permission. Angie and Brad aren’t the only ones who have to live with the inconvenience of following the rules
Yep. My nephew is leaving the state for a day trip during his time and the ex wants the kids, as does their paternal grandmother. Guess who gets them? Rightly, their mother.
Same nephew has a vacation planned this summer out of state. Ex says kids can go under conditions. Ball is in nephews’ court. Follow conditions, go alone, or don’t go at all.
Why is it all in the press? Two words. Brad’s team. E! News And Page Six are pro Brad.
Because pr can’t shut up and he want sympathy by feeding their dirty custody to the press.
OR the Court’s permission to dispense with the other parent’s permission/consent. Nothing is irreplaceable and no parent has the ultimate right to stop or prevent anything forever. Their consent can be dispensed with or replaced by a court order. This is a very steep slope and more than one parent has lost much on it.
she’s not on a getaway – she’s working and has primary custody. of course the children will need to be with her. it’s for the summer not years, and brad is rich enough to get his lazy ass on a plane and see them for a the weekend visit.
he is being an ass in the press. i don’t like this working mom shaming.
I think that shaming would only be the case if it was not a two way street. if Pitt were the one leaving the country and wanting Jolie to accommodate him, I would say he too should be the one flying back and forth.
The problem is that neither is free to pursue their previous lifestyle. Both have to accommodate their children, the court, and their agreement. It’s the same for all divorced parents.
At some point, Pitt have work overseas and he will have to arrange to see the kids in L.A., get a short visit if Jolie agrees, or not see his children during that time. It’s not rocket science.
only if Pitt had primary or joint custody would he take them. he doesn’t and only sees them when he decides and they agree. her schedule was known upfront, choosing now to throw it in the press is petty and shaming.
i travel for business for extended periods. if i leave them i am abandoning them , if i take them with me, i am shortchanging the father. Can’t win as a woman. men never have to deal with this.
Goofpuff: You mean men like Anthony Hopkins who can leave his four year old daughter and be like, “Ciao Bella, I’m to Hollywood to become a world famous actor. See ya… hopefully never.”😅 No, probably can’t do that as a working mother. People will not fall all over themselves to find excuses… Oh, but she is on the spectrum. Oh, but it’s for the best. Oh but she is a great actor.
I agree with you. To me this looks like a man attempting to block a woman’s opportunity to work and to seek her own happiness, using the kids as pawns. This is a family that has lived all over the world, and Brad is a man with the resources to visit them wherever they are. He’s just trying to control his ex-wife.
Ditto. Who knew Brad Pitt was whiny? He’s definitely not a catch.
How is he blocking her attempt to work? She can do her film and also has the resources to visit the kids in LA when she has a couple days’ break. Not to mention that spending long days filming mean she won’t even be with them much while she’s working. Seems to me that being home in LA would be more comfortable for the kids.
Esmom: with that logic, he will also have long days and won’t even be with them much because he is ALSO filming at the same time.
But they’ll be in their home, able to spend time with their friends and enjoy their regular activities. Pitt’s home base argument makes sense, and will also apply to him if and when he chooses to film overseas. They’re working with a judge, who will evaluate all of the information, and hopefully the preferences of each of the kids, and decide. But a judge is unlikely to support the children being away from either parent for too long.
That’s incredibly insensitive…Whatever happened, Brad is the father of those children, and he should not be deprived of his time with them. As others have stated, “regular” divorced parents have to deal with this all the time, and usually, courts are not sympathetic to one parent going on extended trips with the kids, depriving the other parent of seeing them. I am sure Brad loves his children very much, and as far as I know he has been totally compliant with whatever the courts have told him to do. AJ needs to do the same…
Booie, true but as tracking said, they will be able to stick with their usual activities. As the kids get older, other relationships and commitments become more important and they tend spend a little less time with just their parents/family. Its a delicate balance that I’d think would be more stable at their home base. It doesn’t mean they can’t or shouldn’t travel ever, just maybe a little less.
Precisely why so many times the court steps in and the parent trying to use their consent as a weapon loses more than they ever thought. It’s very common and very stupid. His consent can be dispensed with and it doesn’t even take much. Judges intensely dislike this permission game.
To everyone who suggest the kids should stay behind, you clearly don’t take into consideration the kids’ best interest and this is the only thing courts care about. Brad’s schedule is far behind it. For the kids to lose their primary caregiver for months is absolutely not in their best interest. Period.
This is nothing new in custody cases though. I once had to give up a job opportunity because it was going to move me two states away. The judge said it was either that or lose custody of my kids. And it wasn’t even really about them…it was just another way for him to exert some sort of control over my life.
This is just the reality of sharing custody. Unfortunately, even though your ex may no longer be in your life romantically, they are still in your childrens’ lives legally and even normal folks have to take that stuff into account.
This is the third similar story from Brad’s camp in three days. I’m interested to see what actually happens, versus what Brad’s team says. If they’re already in England and going to be based there, then it’s just Brad venting to the press.
As for their custody schedule, I was under the impression that Angelina was the primary custodial parent and Brad had supervised visitation at the children’s request. Did that change?
Finally, her in that black coat with the red lipstick. Ridiculously beautiful.
I think this news source is pretty reputable, and it states Brad blocked her taking all six kids overseas for months. Since the parents have joint legal custody, he can do that. The photos show only two kids, suggesting the arrangement is a series of swaps for a period of time so no child goes without seeing either parent for too long.
I find all of the press from Brad’s camp super suspicious too. He has buckets of money to fly and meet his children in England or anywhere else; unless he has to have a court-ordered supervised visit in California. I think that is where the sudden “home base” strategy has come from. Maybe Brad isn’t allowed to travel with the kids. (Maybe they don’t want to be on an airplane with him!)
This situation is very serious. It has been nearly two years and he hasn’t been photographed out with the kids the way Jolie has. He hasn’t run to the press to declare that he has equal custody and that there are no longer restrictions on his access to his kids.
Things he has run to the press about: how he is sober now, likes scultping, dates hot younger women, is friendly with the Anistons etc. If he had the right to see his kids without restrictions, I think it would be the E News top headline. His entire side of the story just has too many red flags for me. How can he still be in such a terrible situation with his children after two years of counselling and therapy?
When he saw he can’t with her in private, he’s using tabloids to smear her against the public. He is so pathetic.
How is it smearing her? The facts are what they are–she wants to take all six kids overseas for months, he doesn’t want her to and is blocking it (as is his right with shared legal custody). If you think she’s in the right, no smear. If you think he’s in the right, also no smear.
Maybe it is his right to block the younger kids from living overseas for a couple of months but it still is a shitty move because it means the kids must live without their primary caretaker – Angelina. So that he can visit them – what – two times a week for a couple of hours??? This is clearly not about the wellbeing of the children, it is all about Brad, Brad and Brad. Also HE NEEDS TO STOP WHINING TO THE PRESS! Like grow up, put your children first you man child!
She has had all six kids as was awarded temporarily by the court even though Brad’s attorney swore no judge will do that. He has been working since the separation and this is her first gig. She reorganized her life to make sure her kids were ok, while Brad kept on working.
I remember many people here that said Jolie’s career was over, and when she announced in an interview that she had job lined up, she was called a liar. Now she has started work and many expect her to leave her children who probably has not sorted himself out and has said publicly she can’t handle all the kids at the same time.
The Pitt portion is really strong seeing her people give her a pass they will never give other male celebrities.
He is smearing her through tabloids, he made public their private custody just to smear her. He is the one who was crying privacy before and now he is running to tabloids to smear her. They can sort it out their problems privately if you want and if he has chance to see his kids.
@tracking Whatever issues he has with the custody arrangements shouldn’t be shared with the public. It should be kept private. Talk to Angie and the judge not Page Six and E! News.
@Tracking, agree that there is no “smearing”.
@Llamas, Pitt has filed for joint custody and it remains undecided right now. He is working with that goal in mind. The “primary caretaker” argument is just a red herring. Pitt is their father and has had the children alone on multiple occasions for most of their lives. If the man is that bad and untrustworthy then his rights would have been terminated by the authorities when they investigated or Jolie can just go full throttle and take him to open court if she thinks that she has a case.
@Tulip garden, no the authorities would not just terminate his rights “if he was that bad”. Do you have any idea just how terrible a parent has to be to have their rights completely taken away? Look it up. Courts do not do that, even in a lot of sexual abuse cases. What happened to brads custody is about as bad as it can be for a parent without rights being taken totally. Stop minimizing. Courts don’t do that without just cause, either. He f-ed up. Big time. And he has learned nothing apparently because we know about this mess from HIS PR. He still has no problem causing his kids and their mother grief from the press. It’s sickening. I read this as a complete ego driven control tactic. What do the KIDS want? How does this make THEM feel when they go to a store or online and see these stories?
@Jen,
The court’s have ordered nothing in this case. See response at post #8 to originalmia.
Jolie and Pitt came to an agreement. They are probably both unhappy with some aspects of that right now.
Agree that both should settle custody permanently for the sake of the kids. Neither is wrong to want to parent their children
Why is Brad making all of this public? I thought he wanted to protect his kids’ privacy. This reeks of someone not getting their way in court so he goes to the court of public opinion. I hope the courts handle him accordingly.
I think he only wants it private when it is not flattering to him (like squaring up to his son on that flight), he needs to be focused on rebuilding relationships with his kids, not this “finding himself through sculpture” narrative he has going on.
They both need to knock off the pr nonsense.
He’s making it public because he’s always cared more about his image than his wife and children. Angelina doesn’t have a publicist, which is how this ridiculous caricature of her has festered. The reality is that she’s a devoted primary caregiver to six children who travels extensively for her work as a rights activist and actor-director. He’s got substance abuse issues and assaulted one of those children.
But he is a famous white cishetero dude, meaning he is still in the right. Just hand him over the children, he needs to yell at someone!
#sarcasm
They both hired crisis PR people a while ago. She hired the real life Olivia Pope.
Has anyone considered the possibilty that Jolie may have made it public to suggest that Brad is being unreasonable?
Doubtful. She doesn’t come off looking good trying to take the kids to Europe for several months. I think most people feel like the kids should see their dad on a regular basis, be that by supervised or unsupervised visitation or overnight stays. I think most people would agree his argument that they need a home base for stability because most people live like that. The fact that he didn’t demand a home base for the kids in Los Angeles when they were together discredits his argument, IMO. But if they’re going to share custody, a home base does make the most sense.
I agree with KBB- this has to be Brad’s team and definitely not Angelina’s. It makes him look like he’s Just Trying To Be A Father and, to some makes her look like she’s trying to ‘poison’ the children against their daddy.
I could not agree more. This is Brad playing his tired “mean ole Angie” game again and it’s a losing season. I ageee with Kaiser. I don’t think the two oldest boys want anything to do with him any more.
@theoriginalmia,
The court doesn’t seem to be siding with anyone other than keeping both parents to their agreement. If the court is not allowing Jolie tot take the kids to London per the patental agreement and because Pitt apparently isn’t signing off on that then the court is actually doing it’s job and what Pitt wants in this instance. No need to take that to the court of public opinion as this one situation is in his favor.
It remains to be seen about overall custody.
What concerns me is that these kids don’t seem to have a base of their own, separate from either parent. Some place or thing that is constant for them, like a school or summer camp, unrelated to him or her. I have known so many kids for whom a neutral situation, like an aunt or uncle or school or camp or even their own part-time job’s workplace, gave them the stability to get through their parent’s divorce and all the turmoil that throws into a kid’s world. It also gives them the opportunity to make their own decisions on their place, on their relationship with each parent, without it being filtered through the world of one parent or the other.
I agree with this. It benefits children, especially ones going through something like a divorce, to feel connected to a community and a support network beyond the family. This whole “citizen of the world” idea comes from a good place, but I suspect it could result in feeling unmoored at times.
“He feels that Los Angeles is their home base and this is where it is best for them to be.”
I thought this was pretty rich coming from Camp Brad, who had no problem trotting those kids all over the place for a decade and rarely staying in one place for more than a few months.
While I’ve often thought the same about these kids, traveling around so much rather than having a steady school or something, but it actually does seem that since the divorce, they’ve been in LA much more and have probably been able to establish some roots.
Lucy,
I agree the family was nomadic when the parents were a couple. Considering Pitt’s stance now, that may have been a part of their unhappiness. One wanted to be nomadic, one didnt.
The thing is during divorce, partners no longer have to accede to the other. They do have to compromise and they both should.
@Tulip Garden. I’m going to agree with lucy2. People need to stop trying to pin ALL the blame on Angelina’s head for them traveling so much. When they have a father that loves to travel as much as his ex-wife. I don’t believe Brad acceded to Angelina when it came to having a nomadic lifestyle. The family spent extended periods in other countries for his work as much as they did for hers or probably more.
@Paige,
I was Just suggesting a possibility. I could be wrong.
Regardless of what was normal for them as a family or why, divorce has introduced a new normal. Both parents will have to deal with that. Pointing fingers about what :used to be” is probably unhelpful so you are right about that. My conjecture doesn’t effect them though
Their behaviors are the issue.
TULIP GARDEN
Brad is the one who love to travel, Angie only travel for UN mission for 2/3 days. Brad had always bragged that he loves to travel and call his family a nomadic family.
@lucy2 and @Tulip Garden
Evidence seems to support that Angelina prefers a nomadic lifestyle. She isn’t a home and hearth type of person. She had parents that modeled her upbringing with chaotic in-fighting, money arguments, and parental alienation.
Brad’s parents modeled a stable home environment. Traveling will probably always be something he loves to do but he’s probably decided he wants his children to have the advantages he had as a child of a stable home. A place that they can identify as a place of warmth, safety, and love. He may never reach that idea but just maybe he’s trying.
I’ve thought this for a long time. While it’s great that they get some really cool experiences and meet inspiring people, the downside is that you lose that homelife stability. Living in hotels, planes and rented mansions here there and everywhere makes it extremely difficult to maintain friendships and establish routines on which to develop personal growth that is so crucial to a child’s development. It just seems like they had to forego all that in service to Angelina’s philanthropy.
My question is, what’s his alternative? He he stepping up to be primary parent for 6 months while she’s filming? Cause I doubt that.
I feel uncomfortable commenting on this story since we don’t know the full details, but this is where I come down on the matter as well – what’s the alternative. In addition, how often has he seen them in the last 6 months (or over the entire 18 months). If he’s only seen them a few times in the past 6 months, I wouldn’t want to leave my children on the off chance that their dad will want to see them in that time. That just means they’ll miss out on time with BOTH parents in that time. If he’s not going to be able to see them much, then he can travel to see them when he wants to.
Now, if he’s allowed to see them unsupervised, is willing to actually do the parenting for the 6 months and they won’t be staying with someone else for majority of the time, that’s another thing. But this won’t get determined by the public, it can only be determined by the court.
It’s not 6 months, it’s less than 4 months, both can travel either way, but here Brad choose to whine via press instead of dealing privately with custody.
The guy is a drunk who put his hands on at least one of the kids that we know of. Does he really have rights to whine about not getting visitation?
He does until the court sees fit to take away those rights. He can still whine though because freedom of speech and all that.
Hey Brad, There’s a flip side to this. YOU also don’t get to work outside of LA for any extended period. Because how is this different than him being away and flying back to LA for his regularly scheduled visits. Or even arranging for the kids to fly out to see him wherever he is. I guess Angie won’t have to accommodate him for any arrangements outside of LA.
This story is BS because unless there’s an explicit claim that she won’t let him see the kids at all, there’s no reason that they can’t travel back and forth. Those kids have always led international lives based on where their parents are filming / working. They are not and never will be your typical suburban family. He doesn’t now get to pretend otherwise.
It sounds like he’s taking a page from Scarlett’s ex’s playbook. Not cool.
Regardless of what happens, it shouldn’t be the kids job to accommodate their parents particularly if that involves flying a lot. The adults in the situation should undertake that inconvenience. The kids aren’t responsible for accommodating them.
I agree about the flip side scenario. It will happen and Pitt should be the one to bear that burden at that time.
isn’t that why brad accepted a job near la?
Exactly, Tulip. Both parents will be working overseas at times, and they need to figure out a reasonable scenario for shared custody in those cases. Presumably whatever they work out this time will apply to Pitt when it’s his turn abroad.
I agree with this. For the kids traveling is normal and he had no problem before
This argument does not hold water for me. What worked and what they agreed on when the children were young is in the past. My husband and I sat on the back porch nightly and discussed what our team parenting plan was going to be based on the results we were getting. It evolved as the children grew and changed.
I agree, LadyT. To say “they’ve always traveled” disregards the fact that they’re not little kids anymore. Heck once my kids hit middle school we couldn’t go to our weekend cabin much anymore, which felt like a slap to our previous lifestyle of taking the kids there every weekend. But we recognized that sports, clubs and other obligations are just part of pre-teen and teen life if you’re involved in organized activities, sports, music and school. Now that they’re almost finished with high school, we get to spend more time there again.
@jobaby
I will address one point. He does indeed get to decide he doesn’t want his children to continue flying all over the world if he believes that it’s not in the best interests of his children. The courts may or may not agree with him. To suggest that he has no right to make a positive change, in his view, for his children but should continue on a path he believes has proven to be detrimental is his right as a parent.
I also add that if I allowed my child to go to camp for 10 years and found negative effects then I would discontinue that practice. Or if I allowed them to eat PBJ every day for 10 years and then learned in wasn’t very healthy. It’s not only a parents right it’s their obligation to make changes when it’s better for their child,
Is Brad allowed to live with the kids at his house since he only has visitations? If he isn’t, where are the kids supposed to stay when Angelina is away? Who’s going to look after them?
EXACTLY. That’s why this has a direct impact on the primary caregiver’s ability to work. He does not have custody, just visitation. This is not a joint custody situation. The children should follow the primary caregiver. Otherwise, they sit at home with the nannies in order to accommodate a visitation schedule? Why can’t he fly to England for visitation? Because he’s working in LA? I guess Brad is the centre of the universe…
Excellent question because it was reported not too long ago with ET another place he leaks too stated that the kids have not had overnights with him but perhaps it’s changed. They noted he doesn’t get full days with them and they have a nanny and bodyguard to come on long when they do come visit so go figure.
https://www.etonline.com/how-brad-pitt-is-a-changed-man-after-angelina-jolie-split-exclusive-99081
My question is he is if also working on a film which he is now while Jolie is working how can he really adhere to his custody schedule? Siunds like he wants to control the situation. Whereas if like Kaiser said he didn’t sign up for a film he could have went to the UK as well. Plus he had been known about her working schedule, the tabs say it’s Jolie that doesn’t compromise but that seems not to be the case here in my opinion. Also he needs to stop taking these issues to the press why even have a private judge if we’re going to get leaks every other week from his side.
Im involved in a similar situation ( albeit easier cause just 1 child ) and since the age of 8 I’ve asked her, her preference and largely honored her wishes! It hasn’t always been easy as my ex has great vaca homes and a gorgeous boat with which he can entice. Sometimes it’s difficult but giving kids a sense of control , particularly during their summer break seems only fair.
My guess is ( only a guess) is they’d prefer to be at their home base w/friends and in their home.
My guess is that children prefer being with their mother and spending a summer in London
While these stories are playing out regarding her supposed “fury” over not being allowed to keep the kids for months in England, I am checking the court website each day to see if there are any new filings or hearings set. So far there are none. Unfortunately, there is no legal remedy for Angelina. The court would rarely allow a parent to keep another parent from visitation for that long. No matter the circumstances. IMHO – Pitt’s career seems to have taken precedence in their lives for far too long. It feels unfair, but so is keeping kids from their father for a long period. No mother feels comfortable leaving her children for four months and no father should desire that for his kids. In this situation, If I were Brad, I would quit that dumb film in which he has a supporting role. Angelina IS Maleficent and it’s a major Disney film. Divorce creates this situation all too often.
“He’s not OK with his kids being away for months,” the insider continues. “He feels that Los Angeles is their home base and this is where it is best for them to be.”
I get the impression that the disagreement is not entirely about work and custody schedules. It seems the bigger picture has been and continues to be conflicting opinions about raising the children. They may have been on the same page to begin with but as the children grew—-so did the divide. And just to be clear, I wouldn’t want to raise kids with either of them.
@LadyT
I totally see that too. He seems to be arguing for stability, routine, boundaries. She seems to want a nomad life. As I said somewhere else in this thread, I think it is admirable that the children are being exposed to other cultures and learning about the harshness of life and human suffering. But that should not be their life as children all the time. They need to be situated and have the ability to build friendships and make choices and mistakes. On this point – as a parent – I agree with Brad.
Yes, I wrote something similar yesterday. There is no reason the parents can’t compromise and the kids have the best of both worlds. But more time with routine and stability in a home base makes more sense for the children, unless they have strong preferences to the contrary. I hope this would be taken into account, especially for the older children, but teenagers normally want to be with their friends.
Their friends are in 30 different countries.
RABBITGIRL
Wrong Brad is the one always talk about how his family lives a nomad life and he likes that kind of family. Never in her interview Angie talk how nomads they are, his the one who always promotes their nomadic lives.
Fa, I’m pretty sure she talked about it in her Vanity Fair issue last year. How she had been home for too long, and was itching to travel again. I even think she said the older kids didn’t want to travel.
Fa- You keep bringing up a Pitt quote about a nomadic lifestyle from 2009 when the children when newborn to age 7. It’s completely irrelevant to the current discussion about kids 9-17 with entirely different needs.
I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable for him to protest her taking the kids to another country for months. This is the reality of divorced co-parenting and it’s in the kids’ best interest to have both of their parents present and in their lives. If she wants to work abroad, then she needs to be the one to fly home and see them. Painting Brad as some kind of villain in this situation is just wrong.
According to most reports, he sees them once or twice a week now, plus he’s busy filming. They will spend their time with nannies, deprived of both parents just so he can prove he calls the shots. Has he thought about how his children will feel about that?
Not sure if you have kids but once they get older, as most of the J-P kids are, the vast majority of their time is spent in school and with after school activities. It’s the age where they are exploring their interests and starting to spread their wings. Jetting off overseas would seriously disrupt that. It’s not like AJ is leaving forever. They can talk to her every day if they want, same with Brad.
Wouldn’t that also be true in London, though? At least in LA they have access to their own home, vs a hotel, and their friends. I’ve always thought the nomad lifestyle was detrimental to those kids. I’m sure both parents love them, but I don’t think either one has ever done right by them.
BA, maybe although if LA has been their “home base” for the past couple years I’d guess the bulk of their activities and friendships and relationships are there and not in London.
Thousands and thousands of army brats manage to successfully grow and thrive following their parents around the world from base to base. My friend has report cards from elementary school and every year is in a different language. She’s brilliant and grounded and raised two equally smart daughters. You don’t have to have a home base to thrive.
@Esmom, I think you misunderstood my comment. I was responding to Lady D, saying they will be stuck with nannies on LA. I was making the same point as you that they have a home & friends in LA, which would be less disruptive for them.
Even if they hate each other, parents need to be flexible and work with each other. So what if Brad’s job just game in? This is the industry they are both in. This means a rethink. If Angelina is flat out refusing, it doesn’t reflect well on her.
ITA
@Svea, agreed. Even if my husband and I hated each other, my children would suffer greatly if they could not have access to their father. Frankly, the entire upbringing that Jolie has chosen needs a bit of balance. I think it is admirable that these children are exposed to the harsh realities of the world and visit victims of war and violence. I think it is admirable that they around the glove and get exposed to different cultures. But there needs to be a balance. Children need stability and boundaries. They also need the freedom to make friends and have childhood experiences. Most importantly, they need both parents (regardless of the arrangement – if they started with two in their life, then they need both). If they had only ever had a single parent, that would be one thing. But these kids are used to having a loving father in their lives.
He only has visitation even if she leave the kids they can’t with him. The best scenario is he can see in London he is rich and afford and she can go to LA whatever she has a free time to bring the kids over to him.
What He is doing now is very petty from him to smear her through tabloids instead of dealing their dirty custody privately.
You are misinformed. He has legal custody and visitation. The kids most certainly can stay with him. I personally believe he should quit his film and go to London, but legally he is in the right. How is he smearing her? A mother does not have to feel ashamed that she wants her kids with her. It should remain private, but there’s no proof this ongoing story came from him. Let’s not smear either parent.
Legal custody is about decision making and has nothing to do with rights of visitation, this is not shared custody which is about shared time, parenting, habitation, etc. Joint legal custody is joint decision making. His visitation has reportedly been limited and there are no signs this has changed thus the kids cannot stay overnight. His legal custody, for now, gives him the right to participate in such major decisions as this one. However, no custodial situation is permanent and forever so he should be careful to not be seen as unreasonable by the court.
When they were together, didn’t they alternate working so at least one of them was with the kids. I don’t see why this can’t be the case with the divorce. Both of them are successful enough in their careers that they have better control over their schedules and the type of projects they can get that this shouldn’t be an issue.
@reef, I think for. long time during their relationship they did it that way, the problem was at the end, when he started to drift off to France and his wine cellar for too long, and taking on movie after movie, I think there were 2 or 3 films bakc to back, the lastvtwo were WWII projetcs, war machine and allies, while AJ was either in America or in Asia. They managed to meet and were seen here and there during those times, but it was probably too stressful. I can imagine Brad was having a Tom Cruise moment where he wanted to take all the movies he could make before his youth left him, the problem is that his children needed him. He was away at races in Europe during important dates and his children’s birthdays. He then acted out in the plane. He could have done better and at least behaved as an adult about his aloofness.
Oh balls some of these comments are completely ridiculous.
Buckets of balls, all the balls!!!!
Ha ha Kitten, I don’t know which comments you mean in particular but I have been pleasantly surprised by the reasonableness of many commentators today. Brad/Angie posts are often like WW3 here so, being a sensitive soul, I usually keep away.
Ha, thanks for the throwback (get it? balls, throw?). I’m not sure why I even came to this thread, lol.
We never learn, do we?
OO
I don’t know the ins and outs of child custody agreements, but it would be nice if this could be settled out of the press.
+1 I was happy not seeing any press about their divorce. But now since one party wants to talk I guess that’s over.
Brad pr people are whining through the tabloids. It just wrong what he is doing.
Yep. That’s good parenting #1
Reading the comments here makes think that’s why Brad keeps leaking to page six because they are those who refuse to see the whole case. He whined to them about Jolie preventing him from spending thanksgiving with the children, turned out, it was the kids and the therapists that decided. They said she was lying that Brad has signed for her to be the custodial parent, people here jumped all over Jolie until she provided receipts.
Brad made so much noise about sealing the proceedings to protect the children when it was to protect him from the public seeing what a shitty parent he was. Funny all those that were so in favor of not leaking has not criticized this particular leak, it just gives them a stick to beat over Jolie for being unreasonable when I suspect the truth will be so much further from what is being peddled.
Pitt still seem salty that Jolie left him, his acts of look at me , I am doing so well, look at me I am dating the most brilliant woman in all the world and Jolie is furious tells me he is still salty because no-one leaves Mr. Pitt Goddamnit…
ITA. Hopefully the courts and therapists catch wind of his mind games with the press and think about that long and hard when determining what’s best for the kids.
Who knew there would be so many people caping for a drunk child abuser?
Right? I want to say I’m surprised but actually I’m not, lots of people once again making excuses for a grown man. Like others have said Pitt had no problem travelling the world and leaving the kids with Angelina while he took role after role , went on solo bike rides around Europe, missed birthdays etc & left all the heavy lifting ‘re parenting to her. She’s their primary custodian under this current agreement , so I’m not sure what they are suggesting she do? Not work at all, leave them in L.A. , with who? The nannies at the DeMille who will then drive them over to Pitts house for the 3 hours or whatever he sees them every other day as per the current agreement? While he gets to film another film with QT. He was the same person that never shut up about being proud to be nomads and called France home, and now he’s leaking about L.A. & stability- please. All this after claiming he wanted privacy. They’ve been stuck in L.A. for almost 2 years, likely not by choice btw but because of this situation that he created.
This thread is reminding me of when we were told about the temporary custody agreement, and people gleefully came on here to say Angelina was lying and trying to save face- she wasn’t. It’s all rather curious why it’s all coming to a head so publicly now? When surely it’s been discussed ad nasuem / a solution sought between them, their lawyers, their therapists and the private judge? So curious indeed. But it’s rather sad that Pitt is pulling this stunt the week of Shiloh’s birthday.
While I was appalled by “the incident” and the behavior immediately preceding it, I don’t think he is currently “a drunk” and don’t believe he was ever “a child abuser.”
Um, people are pointing out the reality of child custody.
I canot believe people are taking pitt’s side. The healthy thing would of been for brad to go to England, that way they are all together. Jolie signed on to this film a year ago. Pitt had a free schedule. So now the kids are split up & having to fly back & fourth. Jolie has to fly back every chance to see them. Who is looking after them in LA if they can’t be with Jolie, if pitt is working all day. He could of been with the kids the whole time, while Jolie worked. Now they are all split up with a messy schedule because of his stubbornness.
Everyone agrees with Pitt because he wants stability or something but they forget he had no problem traveling around the world with them and leaving the kids with her while they were both working. They also forget that the children had to go through therapy after he went head to head with his oldest on a plane. Because apparently that doesn’t raise any bells over the fact that maybe she and even the kids may not yet feel comfortable with them staying with him overnight for such a long period of time.
It sounds like you are in favor of parental alienation when most people here are just hoping these people can all heal. People here commenting are not siding with Pitt, neither am I. We have lived it so we are sharing the realities of custody and visitation. It isn’t always seamless and can be unfair to one or another party from time to time. It is the therapists and court who advocate a stable environment and they are both making progress in that direction.
Anna:
Who is in favor of alienation?
Let me start off with this: The kids have been put through hell the last couple of years and the whole family was in therapy. The kids haven’t been seen with him in two years. I’m curious as to if there is a reason for that and if that may play into the fact that they wouldn’t be left with him. That’s not a far fetched question.
Now then about alienation you claim; Their mom is their primary caretaker. The other day I recall you saying they should stay with him and she can go visit. Likewise they can go with her – their primary caretaker – and he can go visit. On which side of things is that alienation?
And if anyone who feels like responding to this with but the kids and what they want and their friends and activities… please refrain because fact of the matter is, we don’t know what they want. They have friends around the world and activities could be found anywhere. They also all love to travel. Would they prefer to go to London or stay in LA. No one knows except for them. I also don’t know how you know the therapists and court are advocating for a stable environment when that has otherwise been private information. You’d think they’d know this entire family, brad included, is used to travel and taking the kids. Even if LA is their home base, they can easily go away for a summer, like many kids do, and then come right back. No one here knows what the kids want or what their therapists are advocating for.
I just want to know, why is it alienation for them to go with her -primary caretaker for nearly two years- when he can very well visit?
@booie yes, this!! All excellent points. Alienation? A mother following therapist recommendations and allowing the kids a healthy safe way to see their father is alienation now? Moving a mile from his house to facilitate visitation is alienation? Please.
They traveled the world with both parents and that is long established. Since when is LA home base?
He should be adjusting to their lifestyle not the other way around
LA has always been their home base, and has been consistently so for more than two years now.
I have a very hard time believing that Angelina ever intended to raise her kids in L.A., considering she’s spent the last 20 years or so trying to escape. And only likely moved back because of Pitt in 2006 after Shiloh was born. Once when asked about settling down in one place, she said there was no-one place.
I’d have no issues if they had decided to stay in L.A of their own free will, but I don’t believe such a decision was made. Them being in L.A. so long is a consequence of this divorce and the fallout. If in the future they make that decision then so be it. But let’s not pretend Pit didn’t spend years telling us Miraval was home. Angelina also has a home in Cambodia , how do you know she doesn’t consider that a possible base?
Legal papers filed by both parents list L.A. as their home. They should know, I reckon.
On one hand, I think it’s not entirely fair to the children to get stuck in the middle of that in-fighting and have to get tugged around. On the other hand, the fact that the courts have awarded her primary custody that has yet to be successfully challenged speaks volumes about how bad it got toward the end. My feeling is that he violated his right to make demands on the family when he addiction/abuse over being a loving and supporting spouse.
I’m going to be honest here – this is exactly what my mother did to my father after getting custody back from him. Except that our move was permanent and resulted in my father’s estrangement. As a child, I resented it. As an adult, I absolutely understand why she did it. She was doing all of the work of childraising, fighting my dad over support, and he got to live his life and pick and choose when he wanted to father us. She was working her butt off to barely make ends meet – moving back closer to her family where she had more financial and emotional support makes total sense to me. Women are not martyrs for men who think family is a coat you only wear when you leave the house.
That is a heartbreaking personal story. It illustrates well why children don’t get to make these decisions.
Jolie wasn’t awarded primary custody though by any court. Pitt agreed to that temporary arramgement. Read into that as you will.
Also, Pitt isn’t operating in a vacuum with no oversight. There are parenys. Therapists,
lawyers., and a judge. Litigation is ongoing. Should the court’s decide he is unfit to have them, he wont. The fact that that hasn’t happened speaks to the state of things as well.
It’s an issue because he believes his career is more important than hers. She has put her acting career on hold for her family and doesn’t take many jobs and one of the few times she does, he chooses to work at the same time. I guess he felt he could just not pass up an opportunity to work with Tarantino again. (And don’t get me started on that jerk and this awful idea for a movie or or other members of the cast. Bird of a feather flock together I suppose.) Why should she have to choose to give up a job, which she might be contractually obligated to do, or choose to leave her children behind in LA. With nannies no less since Pitt doesn’t have custody. If Pitt hadn’t done what he did, the older children could have chose which parent they want to be with. The children would be allowed to stay with Pitt for visits and could fly back and forth to each parent. After all, they can afford private planes to transport them and nannies to accompany the younger kids. The problem is they can’t stay with Pitt so Angelina would need to be in LA too. And he has no one to blame but himself for that.
Wonder if it is coincidence that the same time this story comes out, Paltrow comes out and talks about Pitt protecting her from Weinstein?
They are no longer married- her career is not his problem. He took a job near their home in Los Angeles.
Except it is his problem because she is the mother of his kids.
So if I am divorced from my husband my husband needs to work around my work schedule. If I have to work nights my ex husband needs to work days. But I haven’t had a job in 2 years so he should work around my schedule.
Not happening.Everyone here seems to confuse how divorce works for real people and that Angelina and Brad can set their own rules.
They are in process of divorce. They don’t need to follow each other anymore when one is working abroad unless the other aggress to do so imo you can’t expect things to be same.
Completely agree. As a couple, they were a team and supported each others goals. They are no longer a team and their goals will diverge.
I’m a bit surprised to see that no one has noted the one glaringly obvious reason that he would be completely against this:
If the filming takes long enough the kids could be considered UK residents and the jurisdiction could revert to the UK. I believe it’s 6 months. No one in their right mind who is in the middle of a custody dispute is likely to take the risk of that happening.
It is well known she wants to move to London. Maybe Brad’s attorney has alerted him regarding British laws.
Karen: please find a single evidence from her saying she wants to move London.
Not gossip but actual statements because you won’t find them..
@Felicia Maleficent will not take six months to shoot. 3-4 months, tops. If I remember correctly the first one had re-shoots and it didn’t take six months.
@Karen well-known. Her reps have already said two or three times she isn’t planning to move to London.
@Paige: how long the first took to shoot is not a guarantee as to how long the second may take to shoot. We have no idea as to what has been said behind closed doors during their ongoing negotiations, but it seems fairly clear that neither is budging much on their stance.
Putting aside the fact that this is Jolie and Pitt…
Custody has not been resolved.
One parent wishes to take the children abroad for several months, the exact amount of time being undetermined due to any number of variables that can lengthen a film shoot.
That parent is in a position to attempt to drag out the filming (assuming Pitt no longer trusts her motives)
That parent has also had well-publized health issues that could unexpectedly side-line that person during the expected filming duration and have the effect of lengthening that duration.
Illness, accidents etc of any of the principal cast and irreplaceable crew could do the same.
If you were the other parent (in this case it’s Pitt, but it could be Joe Blow), would you take that risk? The possibility of attempting to “shop” for a more favorable juridiction isn’t unknown and one of the reasons that both parents need to agree if the children are to leave the country.
Six months is too long and expensive for any film production. I’ve seen the industry film two franchise films in that amount of time. I say four months, tops. A May-September shoot. I don’t know why people still assume she’s planning to move to London when her reps have debunked those rumors twice and she bought a$25 million home in L.A. last year.
@ Paige: I’m not saying she’s planning on moving to London. My point is that if, for any number of reasons, the film shoot takes longer than expected, the kids could be reclassified as falling under the juridiction of the UK.
If the custody issue had already been resolved and there was a permanent legally binding agreement in place in the California courts, this likely wouldn’t be as much of an issue.
His lawyers are being paid very good money to advise him through this. They would be derelict in their duty to not take this sort of possibility into account. Aside from motives, she already put him in front of a “fait accompli” by leaving with all of the kids. It’s very unlikely that he’s willing to take the risk of that happening again in regards to juridiction so long as they haven’t resolved their custody issues.
well other than the fact that the eldest is nearly a legal adult and the rest can take tutors with them when they travel this shouldn’t be public. correct Maddox turns 17 August 5th Pax turns 15 November 29th Zahara turned 13 in Jaunary Shiloh turns 13 Sunday and Knox and Vivienne turn 10 July 12th
I think Shiloh is turning 12 but you are correct on all the others.
I just want to straighten something out here. The stipulation entered into by Jolie and Pitt in January 2017 is as follows: They have joint physical and legal custody, Jolie is the primary custodial parent and Pitt has regular visitation which is at least 2 days a week. There is a private evaluator in place. There are no longer supervised visits. I don’t believe you can see the document image any longer on the court website but I have read it. You can see it entered into the docket at LACourt dot org. There case number is BD646058 which is a public record though some documents are filed under seal.
and yes, the 15+ boys can make their own decisions. The judge will ask them to visit their father but it’s difficult sometimes to enforce with teens.
Umm why do we need to view their case record or know the number even if it is public record? They will work things out I’m sure.
For someone who is saying has no bias towards either and is merely presenting personal examples of custody experiences you sure seem determined to prove something.
I think the biggest issue here is he fought for this to be a private matter and now he’s leaking information as kaiser has been pointing out repeatedly. The court documents seem to be mostly minor decisions or extensions or adjustments, not talks or any sort of proof of progress. That’s apparently private. So instead we get these leaks and people seem to believe them. But no one is suspicious as to where they are coming from. Why is he apparently okay with his attempting to stop her from taking the kids away for months being public knowledge when he also previously wanted to keep the custody issue private? If anyone believes he wanted to keep this private, then this story should be dismissed as made up with no merit and no need of trying to argue where the kids should stay.
I’m just going off of what I’ve seen and so far I’ve only seen the kids with her.
@Anna I’ve read every document that’s been available in this case (not under seal) and I don’t recall seeing anything about joint physical custody, or what you’re saying about his two day regular visits or no more supervised visitation? ( this non supervision seems obvious after so long though) Mostly S&O’s & RFO for minors counsel if i’m not mistaken, the private judge & custody evualtors appointments/ extensions etc. But none of what you say. Perhaps I just skipped those particular parts, it’s entirely possible my bias was working over time that day & missed a few things. I’m asking because well if this is the case, then I need to re examine some of the info I think I have as to actual facts of the case, and not what we all think we know and then project on here. I’m also not sure why we needed the case number on here, as I’m sure anyone with an interest would have found it themselves many months ago.
@anna that is very interesting info and if the visits are no longer supervised then it softens my position somewhat. However, I still think he should visit them in England as she is still their primary custodian, unless the kids truly want to stay in LA then angelina needs to think of their desires. I tend to think they want to be with her, but that is my bias showing.
@jennifer….maybe they don’t want to see him. The have spent years behind closed doors with this man…they know who he is and who he isn’t. They don’t want to be around him. Prob for good reason, or justified reason…..their own personal reasons. That’s all that matters. this is about what’s right for the kids….not what’s right for brads Hollywood image. He’s just not really one that’s seems smart or wise enough to raise children. Esp now that we know about his anger issues, alcoholism, narcis s is m. Etc. plus his past proclivity for fifteen year old girls and using women in general is very concerning. So I can certainly understand kids not wanting to be around this creepy old man.
Thanks for posting @Anna – whatever my own opinion is I personally appreciate when posters try to reference their information with viable sourcing, even if in this case we can’t view the materials anymore.
This cannot be in a court document: “They have joint physical and legal custody, Jolie is the primary custodial parent and Pitt has regular visitation which is at least 2 days a week. ”
There is no such legal arrangement. Jojnt physical is shared custody, i.e. equal time with each parent, equal rights to make decisions, equal cost participation, 50/50. Ther is no defined visitation in shared custody as time is equally shared. This is clearly not their case. It is absurd to have both shared custody and to have primary custodial parent as it s Shared Custody, custodial rights are shared. In fact, I hav3 great difficulty imagining the use of this term. There is a primary residential parent in cases of jojnt legal custody which is different from the shared custody I described above. And this seems to maybe their case in the future as joint legal gives joint decision making BUT one residential parent and access and visitation to the other.
Sorry but none of what you’ve posted is legally supported and cannot be in a court document as you’ve posted it. Either shared 50/50 in everything (there are cases when it’s 60/40 or around but in the core it is shared in all) or jojnt legal with primary residence with one parent and access and visitation to the other or sole custody with access and visitation to the non custodial parent. That’s it in short.
Good for him
Page Six and E in not the place to discuss Child custody …… Be Adults do it in private. Public opinion is not needed , the kids needed is the only ones that matter. Please stop talking to the Tabloids …… like everyone their kids can read .
Custody should be 50/50 and neither should be able to leave the country with the children without permission of the other parent.
Simple solution that I agree with as I suspect will the court
Not when one parent has behaved in an horrible way and the children don’t want to stay with that parent.
Yeah….he doesn’t get to just sidle back in…..that’s not how this works. What’s best for his kids is forhim to continue to be out of the picture completely……
In custody matters the determining factor is the best interest of the children , that is what judges will always look at, not what’s in the best interest of Brad Pitt . No, parents are not entitled to retain 50% custody by mere virtue of parenthood. They need to do the work and earn the right to that if there are or have been serious issues , that required child service to get involved in the first place . Again if he has any serious concerns he needs to approach the courts to ensure those rights are looked after & protected, and not leak to tabloids. And if Pitt is doing the work & getting healthy and is trying to be a present great parent then he will get his fair share of custody. There are therapists, a custody evaluator and a private judge all involved in this case, and none of them would allow Angelina to pull any stunts & get away with it. So why not turn to them?
I’m also not sure why you’re confusing legal custody and physical custody? Angelina is in London with her kids. That means she has consent from Pitt or she approached the courts and got a court order, which I’m guessing we would have heard about. If this wasn’t the case well there would be an international manhunt for Angelina Jolie for kidnapping her children. Tulip, the agreement giving Angelina temporary custody almost 20 months ago was concluded after Child Service was satisfied by the guidelines in place, stop trying to minimise the significance of that. That’s very clear language.
@Joy, I am not confusing, or attempting to confuse, anything. You will note others here have echoed my thoughts.
Whether we agree doesn’t matter at all. What we think or feel doesnt either.
These two are not rare birds in extraordinary circumstances. A lot of people of been through or witnessed these type of cases minus millions of dollars, fans, and public interest.
I happen to think the Jolie-Pitt kids deserve to have both parents in their life. It will be messy and inconvenient for both parents at times. I don’t feel Sorry for either. Many people with less good fortune manage to co-parent successfully.
If Pitt deserves to be stripped of custody then I hope he is. Like you, I think the therapists, lawyers, and judge will guide this situation to a conclusion best for the kids. Both parents can then just parent.
@Joy
No one is suggesting that a parent deserves 50% shared custody based on just being a parent.
I, and others, are stating that Brad still has legal custody of his children thus he is still entitled a voice in their upbringing. This is not in dispute. The court has not taken his legal rights to his children.
I, and others, are stating that Brad is responsible in upholding his part in the visitation agreement. He is not responsible for accommodating Angelina’s schedule. The same is true that Angelina is responsible in upholding the visitation agreement but not in accommodating his schedule.
The court will decide what is best in the final agreement taking the children’s needs and desires in consideration. If there are 2 parents who love their children, care for their physical and mental well-being, and work at improving their parenting skills then most courts (people in general too) favor children having a stable home with regular, predictable time with both parents.
Their marriage didn’t work but the reasons behind that are myriad and are no longer relevant. The court doesn’t care who said what about whom or why. It should ease your mind to know that the children will be given first priority.
Poor jolie
Good..they NEED the stability of a solid home life that is consistent.
They have one …and have had since late sept 2016. Since they have been just with their mother.
Jolie, and Pitt, have remained in L.A. because of the situation. The kids have two homes there. Wait, or are you saying that as a person, she IS their home, like a kangaroo carrying babies in a pouch? Cause that isn’t true.
Brad was not going to do the QT movie, it took him a while to confirm, until it had left that he could not participate because of conflict with his schedule. It was for him to be filming WWZ in London with David Fincher, but the film looks like could not get ready in time to start filming …. so he can do the QT movie. so who changed plans was Brad ….
Angelina has always been careful not to work at the same time as Brad. even in the emails from Sony she says that if Cleopatra depending on when they would finally decide to make the film, she had to see it because Brad would have another film to shoot …. Brad before the divorces made several films one after the other all out of LA, London, Germany, Spain and instead of letting Angelina make her films too, once again they worked in places quite far away, getting long periods away from his children. He even confessed that the work took him away physically and emotionally that even when he was present he was thinking about work …. that he needs to be more to the children, that the films are no longer important …… For me, he should not have accepted the QT film, because it’s not a good company for anyone who wants to be away from drugs and drinks …
the reports of all the other actors, Brad and QT was how much they used drugs and drank that if they were to follow the pace Brad and QT would have died of alcoholic .
Brad spent father day away from his children in 2016, he was not seen with his children alone, and Angelina well before the incident seemed to be the one with the most responsibility and time to be with the children even when she was working the children stayed with her.
Brad was seen making movies, and traveling all the time alone, probably going to France to take care of their house there, in NJ doing the work with Pollaro, NY Plan B has a lot of projects ….. Even now he’s just being careful of not being seen at airports, but he is seen in switzerland, france, london, amsterdam, shows, art galleries, colleges, visiting pollaro none of it involves his kids….
It was even in a baseball game that their kids love without any of the 6 kids ….. it’s weird …. even if they create a storytelling reality is quite different from the gossip sites …..
And he spent Father’s Day 2016 in France I believe. I’ve always thought that other story that went away had more to it.
There’s a part of me that wishes she would tell the world what went down on that plane. Maybe then the press would back off of her. I know she can’t do that, though.
With the way Brad is behaving media wise, one of the children might one day stand up for their mother and burst out what Brad did.
I don’t think the kids would ever betray Angelina’s trust like that, she hasn’t said and I respect her decision, even with all the gross stunts Pitt keeps pulling & my own curiosity as a fan. I hate thinking like this, but I find myself thinking of Maddox and what he’s thinking about all of this. He turns 17 in 3 months , so while I’ve never believed these kids read tabloids or see our comments , he’ll know what’s going on to some extent. If it’s just us crazy Angelina fans projecting and being harsh/ unfair then fine. But if it’s not then oh my, those chickens will certainly come home to roost- just like they will if Angelina is the evil demon some think she is (she’s not). And with what Eunice who has never said a word about anything ever just said, man things are looking bleak, and part of me thinks the gloves truly will come off or have already & it’s just sad thinking about it. Angelina doesn’t deserve this and neither do her kids.
That would backfire on her too though- no matter what Brad did, people would be more upset about the fact that she did something they see as opportunistic/attention-seeking than they would about him doing something dangerous, destructive, or abusive.
She has a problem with sharing custody… She must remember he got on with her mainly because he wants to have kids.
Brad is not the old Brad with the wife he kind of work ship that is long gone. She needs to just stop most of it because what she wants is unattainable.imo If she wants just the kids etc she should’ve tried the maddonas or the shrleys etc way to adopt alone or have them alone etc. These kids have a father you can’t just use custody money and shut him out when he wants to be a father or involved unless he is proven he is bad. And that’s just won’t be because she was saying God things abt him for years. Non of the stories matter because she knew all that before.too …the incident supposrd to be cleared not?
…..
First World problems.
Angie and Brad need to call Jen Garner and Ben Affleck and ask for their advice. They are an excellent example of putting the kids first and making divorce work. Their kids go to church, take karate lessons, play tee ball. Both AJ and Brad need to stop thinking of themselves first, and put their dislike of each other on the back burner. They BOTH need to do what is best for their children.
I agree. Don’t hate your ex more than you love your kids.
Not so keen on the idea of sending kids to church though. Religion is irrational nonsense.
Rescue Cat…I agree with you about religion! Was just trying to point out that the Affleck kids have a lot of stability in their lives!
Jolie is a very controlling woman
Yawn. I could agree if only you cruticize her ex partner for his part of fault.
Elle Fanning in an interview, said all the kids are with Angie in England, the last time she worked with Angie, she had two kids in each arm, now the children are walking around.
Apparently today, they were at LegoLand.
Seems clear in that interview that talking about all of the kids being there referred to the filming of Mal 1. The context of the question she was responding to referred to being about to reunite on set with Jolie for Mal 2, as opposed to having already reunited on set with Jolie. And given publishing schedules, it’s very likely this interview was given before Jolie even arrived in London.
@Felicia. Angelina and Elle did rehearsals a few weeks ago in London, the end of April I think. Elle gave an interview to W magazine and mentioned it. Ed also gave an interview to ET yesterday, about how they’ve been doing prep for weeks now. And Angelina has been in London since April filming Ivan. She only talks about Mal 1 when she says “…like last time I remember…” The part about All the kids is iffy, as I can’t tell if she’s just telling a story about about all the kids being there or actually saying all the kids are/ were right there. Plus as Peg said they were seen at Legoland.
Actually you’re right, that she was referring to Mal 1, as she says I’m in London we’re about to (re-unite.) So she was telling a story that happened previously. Apologies for that.
@ Joy: apparently the 2 kids seen at Legoland were blond and blue-eyed as per the tweet. That would correspond to the 2 kids seen arriving in London with her last week.
I don’t know if the Ed Skrein article I just read is the same as what you are referencing, but he seems to be talking about it being a phenomenal cast, I didn’t see anything in there about prepping.
Elle and rehearsals… she didn’t actually say that. W magazine did and referenced an Instagram post of Elle’s where she said “1st day of reheasals”… there was zero mention of “with AJ” in regards to that by Elle. That to me appears to be an assumption (or clickbait) on the part of W or perhaps AJ was there, I don’t know. But Elle herself didn’t say that. And either way I suppose it doesn’t matter, the wording of the question she was responding to implies that the reunion hadn’t happened yet when that interview took place.
@Felicia After ‘re reading the Elle interview, it seems to me she’s speaking in the present tense. The wording of the question from the reporter as you say has a clear implication. What I can’t figure out conclusively is, if Elle is then referring to the re-union itself or actually filming the sequel when she says we’re about to. But like I said it seems like she’s speaking in the present tense, until she says ” like, last time I remember”
“I’ve been in prep for the last couple of weeks and seeing the sets, they’re phenomenal and it’s just really exciting to be a part of.” This from Ed.
As for Legoland, we can’t know for sure without picture evidence which kids were there. She actually just said blue eyed for accuracies sake, so you may be right on that one. Either way, you seem determined to prove something , as do I. So in the absence of actual irrefutable evidence, I guess both of us will believe what we want to suit our respective agendas about all this. The Instagram accounts are very clearly obviously fan accounts masquerading as the two boys. Someone was busted impersonating one of the other kids a while back.
@Joy: I don’t really have any particular agenda on this. My point of view on interpreting what I’m reading is simply different than your’s. I have a bit of a habit of deconstructing things into what is actually being said and what is not being said.
I have a hard time believing that AJ has been in the UK for a month. I know photos don’t tell the whole story, but there have been pictures of AJ in LA with the kids over the past month and none in the UK until she arrived with the 2 kids.
I know she’s a Producer on the Ivan film, but she’s not one of the actors who will be onscreen, she will be doing the voice of one of the animated characters and that bit happens later. I tend to think that if she is going to be separated from her kids for several months, she would be spending as much time as possible with those kids before leaving. I don’t know if being one of the producers absolutely requires an active on-set presence, but if it doesn’t, I think her kids would be a priority over that.
Insta accounts… no clue. The comment made on the Pax account for the bday wishes is precisely the sort of “inside joke” that, as an adoptee, I share with my father, particularly when people would say that I look like him. We’d just kind of smirk at each other.
The DM has pix up of the Legoland outing with the 2 kids who were pictured arriving at the airport with AJ. It seems unlikely that she has them all with her. Not impossible, but unlikely. With that in mind, it also seems unlikely to me that Pitt would have signed off on allowing all 6 of them to go for the rehearsals but only 2 of them now and who were seen arriving in the UK a bit over a week ago.
Anyways, I guess we’ll see over time how this plays out.
I can’t stand Brad Pitt, but am I the only one who finds it incredibly sad that the two oldest boys’ relationship with their dad – the only father they’ve ever known – seems to be irretrievably broken? After all that talk about how it was Brad’s bond with Maddox that brought him closer to Angelina etc.? The incident on the plane must have been brutal to completely sever the relationship like that.
Divorce is hard on kids, but I can see how it could be even harder for adopted kids who question where they belong after their parents split up. For that to happen when the two oldest boys are teens and figuring stuff out… yeah, I find it really sad and awful.
I don’t think that’s actually the case. Both of the boys have an Instagram account and both posted birthday wishes for Pitt’s bday. Maddox’s wished him a great day and said “love you”. Pax called him “the best Dad”.
Neither of those comments sounds like their relationship with their father is irretrievably broken.
Receipts please.
It’s easy enough to do a search on Instagram for maddoxjoliepitt and paxtjoliepitt.
I think those instagram accounts are fan made. With everything going on about privacy I really don’t believe this.
@Ennie: those actually look to me like they might have been set up by the boys to promote FTKMF. If they are fan accounts, those are fans who are impersonating them given some of the posts and captions.
I can’t tell if those accounts are fan-made or not. They do seem to feature posts typical of young teens though (though the fans could be teens). At any rate, there has been no chatter about the older children not seeing their dad since early on in the split. Some posters seem to wish for there to be a permanent break, which is awful. All should wish for positive healthy relationships with both parents, for the kids’ well-being.
Unlikely that those Instagram accounts are real. Would Maddox post a photoshopped photo of the family from the wedding with Santa hats on to celebrate Christmas? Or would a fan?
When all of the photos are publicly available, it’s probably fake, IMO. Even the post about Brad is a photo of them that is already on the Internet. Surely he’s got other photos of himself with his family that are not already out there. If it were actually him he’d be going to his camera roll or iCloud for photos to post, not googling his own name.
Doubt it. No way.
To me, this is about them nitpicking each other and not a genuine issue. They were ok with the kids being “global citizens” while they were married and they made it work. Now they are separated and shit hits the fan when Mom and Dad need to travel? I think this is about them fighting and not about what is best for the kids. Get your shit together Brang..the kids will suffer for this kind of stuff.
But before they made it so that they never worked at the same time. If one was shooting in London, they all went to London and the family was together. There’s no way Angelina is going to want to travel to wherever Brad is shooting or vice versa now. They’ll probably have to have a “home base” not because the kids need it for stability but because it is the easiest way to maintain shared custody. If he is arguing that they need it for stability, he is being disingenuous, and I say that as a Brad fan.
Here’s my thought. The “global citizens” plan for raising kids sounds pretty cool on the surface. But what are the chances that all 6 kids like that idea now that they’re old enough to have an opinion. (Kids don’t run the family but their opinion matters when the adults make the final decision.) What if one or two just want to hang at home with their dog and their neighbor and take dance class with their favorite teacher? Secondly, what are the chances that all 6 kids are thriving in that sort of loosey goosey environment? I realize it’s possible for some. But all 6? Is one’s education suffering? Does one need less freewheeling and more structure to stay on path to a healthy adulthood? As a parent I think it’s necessary to assess and reassess each child individually and adjust as needed. So just because something sounded like a cool plan ten years ago doesn’t mean it’s the best plan now and a good parent will see that.
This is not meant as a reply to KBB. Not sure how it landed here??
All those are valid of course, but my point is they COULD make this work with the help of their support systems..Uncle/Gma/Gpa. Now its a power struggle..like he is trying to tell her what she can and cant do with them..and she wants to carry on her life without clearing it with him and who could blame her? There is plenty they could do, but instead they fight.
Oh give me a fkn break. He’s just trying to get to her, playing these stupid games. Just like my son’s dad says to me every time he gets mad that he’s going to sue for custody when he sees my son maybe two or three times a year. He’s NOT going to willingly dive into full-time parenthood, and neither is Brad. If you wanna see them so badly, you’re rich, get on a damn plane.
Also, can you even imagine the outrage if the opposite happened and Angelina got drunk on a plane, lost her sh!t and put hands on one of her kids? She’d be crucified. People would be saying she should lose custody entirely and have only supervised visitation. But with Brad, it’s all, “Awwww, look, he just wants to see his babies.” Makes me sick.
FINALLY!! someone who sees through his manipulative bullshit.
The kids have always had a nomad lifestyle. It’s something both Brad and Angie wanted for them.
He knew she would be in england filming before he signed on to the project in LA. She’s been there since at least April, maybe earlier.
Literally less than a month ago, while the kids were in England, the whole narrative he was trying to sell was that he was spending all his free time in Boston with Neri Oxam. But that backfired, so now it’s back to the suffering dad narrative.
He only has half legal custody of the kids, not physical, and there’s a good reason for that.
He complains Angie wont have time with the kids cause of her sched, but he will also be filming for 12-16hr days on avg. He can’t visit the kids without supervision, nor whenever he wants, so really even if they are in the same city he will barely see them. So you guys would really want the kids to stay in LA with neither parent around for 99% of the time just so Brad can seem like a better dad? Really? how the heck is that fair to them?
Also the kids have been to england many times before, they have friends and a life there too, and oh yeah, they have their mother and primary caregiver that has devoted all her time and care for them since the beginning and has never acted reckless around the children, nor harmed them in any way.
This “poor Brad” bullshit needs to end. He does NOT want responsibility, all he wants is to rehabilitate his image and he’s going so low as to drag the mother of their children through the mud at any opportunity he can, and y’all are buying it!! It’s ridiculous.
I think a lot of dads would want 50/50 custody if they had a nanny for each kid. It’s all of the good with none of the bad. Nannies don’t raise the kids, but they lighten the load considerably, especially when you’ve got one for every kid! I don’t think you can compare regular parents to uber wealthy parents. I would agree that Angelina and most moms are the ones doing ALL of the emotional labor. Very few men even seem to understand the concept.
@KBB
I agree. As a kid, my parents both worked full-time. We had a live-in nanny, but even then she was mostly considered like an older, trusted friend, not a parent.
For people to suggest that the kids would be better off in LA, away from their Mother/primary caregiver for months, under the care of nannies, and only rarely seeing their father–and only with an additional party (supervisor)—would not be ideal. No matter how much people wanna hate Angelina, they gotta admit that is NOT for the best.
In general, society is way more lenient on fathers than they are on mothers. It’s very sad and unfair.
I think Angelina is working hard and doing the best she can as a single parent. Brad’s barely making an effort. Seems he’s more caught up in trying to tarnish her image to elevate his own, than to actually work on re-building a relationship with his kids. First step for him would be to humble himself and consider how lucky he is some of his children still want to see him, and that he is allowed some visitation. Oh, and also stop bad-mouthing his children’s mother.
They should make a 50/50 arrangement, the only people hurt are the kids.
Why is it leaked to the press?
Because he wants to hurt Angie as much as he can. The guy’s a jerk.
Exactly, this. He doesn’t care that his kids would be hurt seeing their mother potentially hurt. He’s selfish.
This is so stupid. Those children have traveled the globe with their parents their entire lives. Brad spends most of his time making movies, getting wasted and chasing his new (PR) love interest. Why should their lives change now? Brad is just being difficult. He can hop on a plane anytime and go visit them.
Stop being a dick, Brad. Go back to your crappy movies and furniture “designer” or whatever the hell she is.
This is rich from a grown man who has been giving stories to the tabloids and media for months about how HAPPY he is now to be without any obligations and dating a woman that he can fly all over the place to woo. He can continue with the media game but I doubt Angie and the kids give 2 sheets.
Exactly. It’s easy for him to travel anytime to accomodate a new romance, but when it comes to his kids all of the sudden it’s basically impossible because Angie. —Like really? that’s a pathetic excuse.
I suspect his newly found rememberence of his children is simply PR. If Angie is in England with the kids for months everyone will know he hasn’t been an active co-parent. He can’t have a summer of sexy times with his new squeeze without the media keeping a time clock of “how long has it been since Brad saw his children”. The truth always comes out Brad, you can fool only some of the people some of the time.
@Original T.C.
Totally agree. It’s the same thing Tom Cruise tried to do. He even staged photo ops for it. But eventually he gave it up. Hopefully Brad will too.
This leaking he is doing is terrible. His relationship with the kids is already rocky at best. This should not be an issue for her to take the kids out of the country. She is an actress and he is an actor and they go out of the country all the time. I would think large divorce courts in an entertainment city have to deal with this quite often and make the best legal decisions that benefit both parties and the children. It’s not like these children can’t get on a plan to fly back to California and spend time with Brad and then fly back to England. They are all old enough to fly by themselves and they have bodyguards. It is the same he can fly over to see them. I don’t know what game he is playing. These kids are smart. They can see what he’s up too. Bringing them up again in the press will keep them further away.
These accounts are false. The only one that has an instagram account is Pax and is private, Angelina’s friend Holly follows him , the picture seems to be from some vacation location like in Cambodia and the name of the account takes the abbreviations of Pax name
Can’t the kids be in London for 6 weeks and then Los Angeles for six weeks at a time and just go back and forth like that? I mean obviously these kids don’t go to a normal school and probably just have tutors so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. These kids are never settled anywhere for very long anyway. If the oldest boys don’t want to see Brad they should just stay with Angelina the whole time.
The older kids are probably the ones who would prefer to stay in Los Angeles to hang out with friends. Hasn’t Angelina said they don’t want to or don’t like to travel as much? When I was a teenager traveling with my family was the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted to go off with friends, and I was never home once we started to get our licenses. The boys may have girlfriends too. I wouldn’t expect to see them in London for more than a few days at a time unless they’ve got a lot of friends there too.
@OliviaJoy1995
The only problem there is if they’re in LA for six weeks it means they’re not in the full-time/nor part-time care of either parent.
Brad only has legal not physical custody and supervised visitations only. (the last time i checked, it’s hard to keep track since there are many false reports online).
I work in film also, and shoot days are at the very least 12hrs long (without travel), and by the end you’re exhausted. At the most he would only be able to see the kids in a limited part-time basis and only for the duration of the supervised visit.
Angelina is the full time parent. Even if she is doing the same hours on set as Brad, having the kids in her physical custody means they’re in the same time zone, same home, and only a phone call away from the parent that has been a constant in their lives.
People complain this is unstable for the kids, but i think it is WAY more stable to keep the children with the full time parent (that mind you never caused them trauma or physical harm) they are used to, rather than sending them away from Angelina, into a home with just nannies, just so they can be available for Brad whenever he finds time/is allowed time to see them.
Poor kids
I don’t think he’s an angel or father of the year and she’s not everything she presents to the world either – they’re normal but not normal celeb parents with huge resources at their fingertips – but it looks like they both care about their kids a lot. In the end they need to get it together for their kids. Laura Wasser, her lawyer, said in some interview that her celeb clients usually haven’t heard, “No,” before and she’s the one who has to tell them they have to share custody. Could apply to this case.
I agree. Joint custody is fair for both. IF not all children want to see their Mother or Father they should get a vote and say so to a Judge not a lawyer or either parent. This case has gone on way too long. It is BS. A Judge needs to settle it now.
That coat she is wearing is everything!
I think what happened on the plane: when Maddox got between B&A and said something like don’t talk to my mother like that, before Brad shoved him, Brad said something like SHE’S NOT EVEN YOUR REAL MOTHER. That would explain why A keeps saying the FAMILY has to heal, and the FAMILY is doing the best it can. And why the shrink isn’t insisting B see the kids. Outsiders almost always force the kids to see both parents. This is very unusual to me. Plus, I doubt the kids want to hang in LA when they can travel the world.