Star Magazine is reporting that Brad and Angelina’s ever-increasing roster of kids are undisciplined, poorly behaved brats who can’t keep their hands to themselves, and their favorite punching bag is little sister Shiloh. Supposedly, Star interviewed a family insider who says that all the traveling, relocating, and their hectic schedule has affected the kids, and that neither parent likes to be the disciplinarian. This alleged insider also says that Pax and Maddox fight constantly, but that Zahara is the queen bee who likes to scratch and pull hair. Apparently, Shiloh got in the middle of a kid skirmish and ended up chipping a tooth.

With four children to manage and two more on the way, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt make it seem so easy. They travel around the globe at a moment’s notice with their kids in tow, but sources reveal to Star that behind the scenes, they’re losing control of their unruly brood.

With four kids come four very different personalities, which all seem to clash. And the sibling rivalry is brutal.

Maddox, 6, is constantly pushing Pax, 4, around in an attempt to show him who’s boss, says a source. “But Pax is no wimp, and he fights back.”

But it’s little Zahara, 3, who really rules the roost! “She screams and shouts at the boys when she doesn’t get her way,” says the source. Not even Shiloh, 22 months, is safe — and the toddler has the battle scars to prove it. “Z is always pushing or scratching her.”

Zahara’s picking on Shiloh is usually motivated by snacks. “Z once clawed Shiloh’s cheek after she tried to take her cookie,” says an insider who witnessed one incident. “She’s always pulling on Shiloh’s hair so she can steal her food.”

And little Shiloh has more than her hair to worry about! Recently while Shiloh’s three older siblings roughhoused, she got knocked down and chipped a tooth! “Angie gets worried when Shi plays with them,” says the insider. “She always comes back with a scraped knee or a fat lip!”

In fact, another source says food is a problem with all the kids and blames much of their rowdiness on a poor diet. “They eat fast food, pizza, chips and sugary soft drinks,” says the source. “Brad and Angie let them eat what they want because it brings harmony to the chaotic household.” To make matters worse, the insider adds, “because bedtime is whenever the kids feel like it, they get overly tired and cranky. Brad and Angelina don’t like to be too strict.”

[From Star Magazine]

There is probably a kernel of truth to this: as a mom of four, I will be the first to admit that kids fight, and sometimes it gets physical. But I find it hard to believe that Brad and Angie would let it escalate to the point that anyone would get hurt. It would not surprise me at all to learn that the two boys get into occasional shoving matches- it’s standard operation for little boys. And I do believe that little Z is probably running the show. I love that kid! But this whole story sounds like an exaggeration to me. Where are the photos of Shiloh’s chipped tooth? Where are photos of the boys with bruises or scratches? There aren’t any, because the story is bogus.

Shiloh, Angelina and Maddox are shown at an art store in June, 2007 in the header image, thanks to WENN. The Jolie-Pitt family is shown going to the Field Museum in Chicago last August in the image below, thanks to Splash News.

Forbes has just released a list of the most powerful celebrity babies, based on media exposure of the last year. Which is a shame, as I was hoping it was based on super powers. Unfortunately, being the child of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt only gives you the beauty gene, not the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Hollywood’s Most Influential Babies

1. Shiloh Jolie-Pitt
2. Suri Cruise
3. Zahara Jolie-Pitt
4. Sean Preston Federline
5. Pax Jolie-Pitt
6. Sam Alexis Woods
7. David Banda Ritchie
8. Dannielynn Birkhead
9(tie). Romeo Beckham
9(tie). Cruz Beckham

Forbes

While Shiloh might have topped the list for media exposure, I’m guessing that in reality Suri is more influential. She’s got the whole cult of Scientology behind her! Head of photo agency World Entertainment News Network Jill Stempel also suggests that Suri is responsible for resuscitating Tom Cruise’s career post-couch jumping, making him more human.

Of course, in twenty years I fully expect these babies to be dating each other and getting arrested in awkward circumstances. As the Hollywood Brat Pack of 2027 I’m sure they’ll all continue to command a big media presence, but I’m not sure whether any of them will be independently successful as someone more famous than their parents. Particularly if Britney drops poor little Sean Preston on his head again. Then again, some people might have suggested that Angelina Jolie wouldn’t ever be more successful than her father John Voight, and she seems to be doing okay for herself.

InTouch has a nearly five minute video interview with Angelina Jolie’s adopted daughter Zahara’s grandmother, Mentewab Dawit Lebisoin, in Ethiopia. (The video is shown below.) During the interview Lebisoin’s voice is quiet and her mood is somber, she seems sad and deeply affected by the decision to give Zahara up for adoption. She speaks softly through an interpretor, saying that her daughter, Zahara’s mother, was alive when Zahara was given up for adoption and that she never claimed she was dead and clearly told the adoption agency that Zahara’s mother ran away. Zahara’s mother left her, Lebisoin says, because she was poor and unable to care for the baby. Although she doesn’t mention it in the interview shown, Zahara’s mother was also said to have been the victim of rape, which resulted in the pregnancy.

Lebisoin shows a photo on a laptop of her grinning daughter holding a large picture of Zahara as a baby in a carrier with Angelina Jolie. Zahara’s grandmother says she never met Angelina and that Angelina never came to see any of Zahara’s extended family when the journalist asks her about it. She says that journalists came to see her after Zahara was adopted, though.

At the end of the tape the reporter asks Lebisoin if she has ever received a letter or any correspondence from Angelina and it looks like she nods her head while she’s responding, but that’s when the tape cuts off. It seems like In Touch wants us to buy the magazine to see what she said and if she has received any word from Angelina.

There was speculation that Zahara’s mother would half-heartedly try to ask for custody of the toddler, who will turn three in January. The Jolie-Pitts have squashed all of those rumors, and say that Zahara’s adoption is “legal and irreversible.”

Lebision’s statement that her daughter is alive and that she never claimed that she was deceased contradicts earlier reports that have her bringing three different relatives to court to testify that her daughter was dead in order to secure Zahara’s adoption. In Touch reports that the adoption agency is now asking for a police investigation to see if Lebision is telling the truth.

Here’s the video, thanks to InTouch:

Zahara is shown eating an ice cream while going on a horse and carriage ride in NY with Brad Pitt on 8/29/07, thanks to Splash News.

Despite all the hoopla that “In Touch” drummed up (and we repeated) about Zahara Jolie-Pitt’s adoption, Zahara isn’t going anywhere. To be fair, “In Touch” made it clear they didn’t think there was any way that Zahara’s birth mother could get her back. They just said that she was still alive, Zahara was not an AIDS orphan, and that the mother thought she’d be able to see Zahara again and was devastated that she couldn’t. Reading the article, your heart does go out to the birth mother. She was raped, became pregnant, and was dirt poor and unable to care for her child. The grandma who gave Zahara away is another story. Though she manages to come off like a victim too, she was a bit more duplicitous. She told the adoption agency that her daughter was dead after she ran away. It wasn’t really possible to tell from “In Touch’s” article if the grandmother really thought her daughter was dead, or just said that so Zahara could be adopted. But the grandmother produced three witnesses who also verified that her daughter was dead.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s 2005 adoption of daughter Zahara was “legal and irrevocable,” the head of adoption agency Wide Horizons for Children said Thursday, calling bunk claims that the girl’s birth family is seeking her return to Ethiopia. Tsegaye Berhe spoke out to clarify the legitimacy of Jolie and Pitt’s adoption in the wake of reports that members of two-year-old’s family, including her presumed-dead birth mother, want Zahara back.

Mentewab Dawit Lebiso, a 24-year-old Ethiopian native, made the challenge, claiming to In Touch Weekly she was Zahara’s birth mother. On the adoption papers filed two years ago, it indicated that Zahara’s birth mother had died of AIDS and that the identity of her birth father was not known. Both Lebiso and another woman claiming to be Zahara’s aunt also said they didn’t fully understand what it meant to put a child up for adoption and that they believed Jolie and Pitt would be bringing the child back for frequent family visits. Berhe said that even if their account were true, the stars would be under no obligation to keep in touch with the family.

“The court in Addis Ababa approved the adoption after studying the document her grandmother wrote…saying her daughter, the mother of Zahara, had died and she was too poor to bring her up… the grandmother brought three witnesses to court who testified that Zahara’s mother had died and that her father was unknown…The court also investigated the social status of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt before approving the adoption.”

[From E! News]

If nothing else, it sounds like Zahara’s birth mother had nothing to do with giving her up for adoption. It could be argued that by running away, she gave Zahara up. But you have to remember that she was a young woman who was (presumably) severely traumatized by a rape and a new baby. She was also dirt poor and struggling to feed her baby. Overwhelmed isn’t even the right word for how she must have felt. It really does seem like the mother has almost no legal recourse at this point, though I’m guessing she’s pretty upset at the grandmother for giving her daughter away. Hopefully she’ll get to meet Zahara someday, and they’ll both have good lives.

“In Touch” is set to publish an article claiming that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt may have to return their adopted daughter, Zahara. Angelina adopted her from Ethiopia in June 2005 when Zahara was six months old. Zahara was severely dehydrated and malnourished and had to be hospitalized when she first came to the U.S. Angelina said, “she was six months and not nine pounds. Her skin, you could squeeze it, it stuck together.” When she adopted Zahara, Angelina was told that she was an AIDS orphan. However it’s now looking like that’s not really the case, and Zahara’s birth mother is alive and well – and wants her daughter back.

“She’s from Ethiopia. She’s an AIDS orphan,” Angelina said. But Zahara’s adoption papers, which an “In Touch” representative was shown on November 12, clearly states that Zahara has a grandmother and extended family alive in Africa— and the grandmother introduced “In Touch” to her daughter, who claims to be Zahara’s mother.

The cover story notes that while her birth family may not be able to afford to challenge Zahara’s adoption, they do claim they were misled. They say a local official, who took Zahara to the adoption agency, told the family they would get to see the baby again and maintain contact with her. Most people hoping to adopt who are working with the U.S.- based agency Wide Horizons for Children (which Angelina used to adopt Zahara) visit the child’s village and surviving family members.

[From the National Ledger]

Angelina is said to have wanted to travel to visit Zahara’s village and meet her extended family, but wasn’t able to since there were so many journalists trailing her. Perhaps if the circumstances had been different, she would have been able to meet Zahara’s grandmother, who signed the adoption papers turning Zahara over to Wide Horizons. The article goes on to say that Zahara’s birth mother, Mentewab Dawit Lebiso, was raped by a man who broke into her home and became pregnant with Zahara. Lebiso briefly ran away after feeling frustrated and scared with the responsibility of the child. It was during this time that her grandmother gave Zahara to the adoption agency, since she was unable to provide for the child. It isn’t clear from the article if the grandmother really thought her daughter was dead, or simply said so to proceed with the adoption.

Could her birth mother get Zahara back? Mentewab Dawit Lebiso, 24, the woman that claims to be the birth mother never signed the papers giving up her daughter, which could give her a case for getting Zahara back — if she had the money to pursue it. “If some family member comes in and leaves the child at an orphanage and signs her over, and then the mother wants her back, you can make the argument that the person didn’t truly understand that their child is gone forever,” says adoption specialist Jerri Jenista.

Mentewab struggled to feed her family. “Sometimes all I had was a piece of bread all day,” she tells In Touch. Zahara’s mother Mentewab sells onions at the market. Her grandmother Almaz says they couldn’t afford to keep Zahar. “I would tell other families not to give up their children,” says Zahara’s aunt Frehiwot, 18, with another aunt, Zinash Haile Yenero. “I would tell them what happened to us.”

Dawit Lebiso, 24, tells In Touch. “Her grandmother and I both tried very hard to raise her, and I want her to come home to regain her identity.”

[From the National Ledger]

Angelina is said to be aware of the existence of Zahara’s birth mother, though for how long isn’t clear. The article goes on to say that Angie believes what’s most important is what’s best for Zahara, and in her opinion that’s staying with her. From all the things that have been written about her, it seems clear that Angie does want to make sure Zahara knows where she comes from, appreciates her history, and has a sense of connection. But “In Touch” states that Angelina doesn’t want Zahara to meet her biological family at such a young age, feeling that it could be confusing to her. Other adoption experts say it’s a good idea to do that early on so it’s always a part of the child’s life. It seems highly unlikely that Brad and Angelina would actually have to give Zahara back, but it’s interesting to know more of her history.

I love Zahara. You know that girl can get shit done. She’s been giving photographers the evil eye since she was about a year and a half old, and I respect the girl for being tough. I really wouldn’t want to run into her alone in a dark alley now, let alone in a few years. I think she could beat me up pretty badly. To further support my “Zahara is a badass” theory we have recent pictures of said little tot flipping off the camera. I swear to God, I will teach my future children how to do this, because it is both awesome and classy.

I wonder where she learned this little gesture? My money is on Angie, probably at Brad, over something Jenny Shimizu said about her former bisexual days. Zahara saw that it got a rise out of her dad, and decided it was a good idea to go ahead and do that whenever she wanted to piss someone off. And let’s be honest here, it’s not like Brad and Angie can really monitor her flipping people off when they’re trying to navigate their way through crowds of photographers. Thus, the most perfectly fertile ground for flipping-off-age.

Upon closer inspection, you can see that Zahara is sucking her thumb. As a former thumb-sucker until the third grade (hey I have a stubborn oral fixation… and I blame Freud) I can tell you exactly what’s going on here. Thumb suckers become master multi-taskers. I mean your hand is already right there, you might as well do something with the other four fingers (don’t give me that shit about how your thumb isn’t technically a finger. It’s connected to your palm and you can use it to hitch a ride, which makes it a finger to me). She’s either got an itch and is just using the most convenient finger, or homegirl is just going for the multi-tasking I’m-chilling-sucking-my-thumb-while-flipping-you-assholes-off maneuver. My money is on the later. Look at that expression. That’s the look of someone that wants to kill you, you motherf*******.

Just a word of advice to Brad and Angie: I don’t really care that your two year old is flipping off the paps, but it might be a good idea to get her a pacifier. After four rounds of braces, 7 retainers, and a bout with headgear, I still have a monstrous overbite, all because I couldn’t quit the thumb. That shit was like hard drugs for me. All that’s available now is a $18,000 jaw surgery. I realize you probably spend that on one night in a hotel, but wouldn’t it be great to save your kid the pain, get her a pacifier you can throw out when it’s time, and donate the money to starving kids or something? Just a thought. But keep up the finger, I like it.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Photos thanks to INFDaily, and I downloaded them directly from the photo agency.