The story finally became clearer throughout the day on Thursday: there was an incident on the Jolie-Pitt’s private plane, as they made their way home from France. The incident, everyone agrees, involved Brad Pitt getting in Angelina Jolie’s face, and one of their sons (Maddox) trying to get in between Brad and Angelina. From that point, the details are in question. We know now that the FBI is investigating because the incident occurred on an international flight, and it involves multiple states (they refueled in Minnesota, and Brad acted erratically on the tarmac). DCFS (child protection services) is also investigating Pitt, and they’ve already interviewed Angelina and Brad. As for exactly what went down, here’s Team Pitt’s version, per People:

Brad Pitt did not strike his child during a heated mid-flight argument with Angelina Jolie last week, according to a source close to the actor. Pitt is accused of being “verbally abusive” and getting “physical” with one of his children on the family’s private plane last Wednesday, a source previously told PEOPLE. Now a source close to the actor is speaking out exclusively to PEOPLE about Pitt’s side of the story.

Pitt “was drunk, and there was an argument between him and Angelina,” says the source. One of the couple’s older children “then got caught in the middle, literally. He stepped in front of Brad. There was a parent-child argument which was not handled in the right way and escalated more than it should have.”

The source says Pitt did not hurt his son. “He is emphatic that it did not reach the level of physical abuse, that no one was physically harmed. He did not hit his child in the face in any way. He did not do that; he is emphatic about that. He put his hands on him, yes, because the confrontation was nose to nose and was spiraling out of control.”

Any accusations beyond that are “a combination of exaggerations and lies,” the Pitt source contends, blaming sources close to Jolie. “They have taken the overall smallest kernel of truth – that a fight in which Brad was somewhat inebriated got out of hand and reached a regrettable peak, and that as a result DCFS is looking into it – and they are manipulating it to best suit their attempts to gain custody.” The Pitt source adds that the star “was not black-out drunk” and that “he absolutely remembers that evening and has been interviewed at length to that effect.”

[From People]

The fact that this is Team Pitt’s official version of events related to the most sympathetic outlet is… rather astonishing. I don’t understand the distinction being made between “Brad didn’t strike his son” and “Brad and Maddox were nose to nose and it got physical.” As for my seeming assumption that this is Maddox we’re talking about, TMZ says that’s the case, that Maddox was the one trying to defend Angelina and get Brad to back away from Jolie. TMZ’s version of events is this: “Shortly after the plane took off, Brad and Angelina began arguing and Maddox jumped up to verbally defend his mom. We’re told Brad then lunged at the boy and Angelina jumped in between them to block her husband. Brad connected in some fashion with his son.” TMZ also says that Jolie insists that at the time of the incident, Brad was not drunk, although he got drunk later. Team Pitt says Brad was really drunk though. Team Jolie also told TMZ that if this was just a matter of Brad having an alcohol problem, she would not have bolted so quickly, and she probably wouldn’t have left at all. To Jolie, this is just about the kids and “Angelina felt the incident on the plane was a deal breaker.”

Page Six also carried a Pitt-friendly version of what went down, again insisting that Brad didn’t hit Maddox, and claiming that Jolie is waging some huge smear campaign. This is the quote that bothered me: “He knows he made mistakes and he knows he has to be better. He and Angelina fought a lot recently, and she knows how to push his buttons. But he is adamant that he did not hit these kids like she’s trying to say.” First of all, “she pushed my buttons” is the dumbest excuse ever for screaming at your wife and getting into some kind of physical situation with your son. That is the kind of thing that Johnny Depp’s team said about Amber Heard too. Second of all, “he did not hit these kids like she’s trying to say.” She hasn’t said anything, and she certainly hasn’t said “Brad beat a child.” She filed for divorce and allowed the news to leak to TMZ without going on the record personally.

People Magazine also reports that Brad hasn’t seen the kids or spoken to Angelina since she filed for divorce on Monday. Brad also finally retained a lawyer on Thursday – he hired Lance Spiegel. Angelina is still sticking with Laura Wasser. A lot of people have been acting like Jolie is “pulling a Depp” by retaining Wasser, but you realize that Depp was sort of an outlier for Wasser’s clientele, right? Besides, Jolie knows and trusts Wasser – Wasser was her lawyer when Jolie divorced Billy Bob Thornton.

Us Weekly also reports that there is some video footage of something. LaineyGossip says that’s why Brad hasn’t released a concrete statement in his own words, refuting the story. Brad doesn’t know what other receipts are coming out.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.