It there a thawing in the divorce case between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? Perhaps. As we heard on Friday, the divorce negotiations were apparently underway, with representatives from both Angelina and Brad’s camps trying to work through a temporary AND permanent solution to their issues. Then later on Friday, TMZ broke the story that Jolie and Pitt’s camps had come to a temporary deal, which would be good for three weeks (until October 20th). The deal involves Angelina being granted “temporary physical custody” of all six kids, with Brad getting monitored visitation on a trial basis, with the monitor being a therapist. Brad will also be subjected to drug and alcohol testing, and both Brad and Angelina agreed to individual and family counseling. This temporary agreement was made under advisement of DCFS, which still has an ongoing investigation against Brad. And now TMZ says that Angelina isn’t interested in seeing Brad prosecuted for child abuse or anything, even though her side is still saying that Brad struck Maddox.
Angelina Jolie will not cooperate with law enforcement if there’s a move to file child abuse charges against Brad Pitt … TMZ has learned. Our Angelina sources say she’s adamant … Brad should not face criminal charges for getting physical with 15-year-old Maddox on their private jet. We’re told she’ll go “radio silent” if authorities make a move to build a case against her estranged husband.
We’re told Angelina was forthright with the L.A. County Dept. of Children and Family Services, telling social workers Brad struck Maddox (in the face).
Other sources say Brad did not strike his son in the face, but instead lunged at him and Angelina got in the way, causing Brad to inadvertently make contact with the boy’s shoulders.
Angelina, we’re told, has a singular focus … protecting her kids, not punishing Brad.
DCFS does have the authority to recommend custody restrictions to the dependency court, although it’s looking more and more like it will not reach that stage. Furthermore, given there were no injuries to Maddox and conflicting accounts of what happened, prosecution is also unlikely.
I have mixed feelings about this. If Angelina – or a source close to her – is still adamant that Brad did in fact strike Maddox, why not let the DCFS investigation play out? It could be that Angelina already got what she wanted, which is that she gave Brad a major wakeup call and now he recognizes that he needs to get his sh-t together, and he doesn’t need a child abuse investigation hanging over his head. Even if she did fully cooperate with DCFS, the chances were always going to be pretty slim that Brad would actually be prosecuted for anything, so why even put this out there? I don’t know, I really don’t.
Also: Deadline reports that Angelina is in talks to play the lead role in the adaptation of Shoot Like a Girl, the true story of Air Force Major Mary Jennings Hegar, a rescue helicopter pilot who served three combat missions in Afghanistan.
Photos courtesy of WENN, PR Photos.
I would like to see Angelina return to an action-type movie. Shoot Like A Girl sounds like it’s made for her.
I don’t like the title though.
Carla, it’s based on a memoir by Maj. Mary Jennings Hegar, who served multiple tours in Afghanistan as a helicopter pilot.
was just going to say the same thing (even if that was the title of the book)
Impossible. She is moving to England to persue royal family, political position and global domination. 😉
I cannot believe that Angelina has her mind on making any movies right now. I’m sure her focus is on her family….I think her considering this movie is pure fiction…
She was joking about all the articles claiming she dumped Brad because she wants to joking the House of Lords, marry Prince Andrew and become Princess Diana 2.0 + Mother (Saint) Teresa and become the most powerful person in the UN.
Is it made for her though? It seems to go against everything she stands for. She goes and visits refugees, victims of war, women and children who bear most of the brunt of military forces and who are being assaulted by the soldiers that are supposed to ‘liberate’ their countries and then now she’s in talks for a basically imperial propaganda movie? This from a woman who HAS actually produced films from the POV of women who are victims of war and who calls out the failure of military forces to protect innocent people in front of UN leaders? Umm, what the hell?
This is a terrible idea. From the title to the story, she needs to not do this. The title sounds like she’ll have a flashback while in combat of some neighborhood boys tease her shooting skills. It will flash to the present again and finish the ‘badass’ shoot scene. Bye Felicia!
Salt 2 please. Her era of doing deep films that are successful are more than almost 2 decades behind her. Her best drama work was in the 90s and her best mindless action entertainment films were in the 00s. Anything else is terrible to watch as she has a broken picker for dramatic films.
Artemis- nailed it!
Also, on a more superficial note… Angelina doesn’t look anything like Maj. Mary Jennings Hegar. Angelina has such a unique look, I don’t know if she should be playing real characters, unless they’re historical characters who we don’t have good photos of. However, I’ve done the comparison photos and ummm… No. Brie Larson would have been a good pic, but she’s busy with Captain Marvel.
So many times people confuse peace with justice and I don’t believe Angie was ever a loud advocate for peace over justice. Justice quite often involves conflict and besides, I always felt Angie had more the heart of Bodicea than Mother Theresa.
@Neil
would you really argue that what we did in Afghanistan was “justice”? I think you’re confusing “justice” with something else, too. I really can’t think of any WAR that was about “justice”.
Jolie has stated that she is pro gun rights and given the chance, she would go back in history and kill certain people to make the world a better place.
Why is she not allowed to tell the story of a warrior, as she did in Unbroken? She wants to tell an interesting story of a woman in the military, stories which are so rarely told. Or are some of you just blanket condemning all people who choose to serve in the military?
@notasugarhere
No, we’re (I’m) not blanket condemning all people who serve. I’m blanket-condemning all wars. I’m a huge fan of Kurt Vonnegut and I think that we’ve been glamorizing the war for thousands of years, starting with epic ballads and ending with Hollywood, and I don’t like where it got us.
Not that I don’t think Angelina would be great, but how old is Mary? All the photos I’ve seen make her look like she was in her 20s when she was in active duty.
Hegar graduated from college in 1999, so that would most likely make her birth year around 1977. She was first deployed in 2007, when she would have been about 30. So Jolie’s about eleven years too old. And IMO she’d be pretty unbelievable as a helicopter pilot.
If Brad lunged at his son he was going to make contact with more than the boy’s shoulder.
She didn’t “cause” anything, inadvertently or otherwise. If she stepped in, then she helped to limit the contact. Pitt should if he were healthy recognize that she prevented worse damage to their son and Pitt’s reputation and record. If he and his sources can’t see that…well, therapy and alcohol testing await.
That statement is both biased and implausible.
PS He could have hurt her, too. Also conveniently overlooked.
Yea- I gotta say that this narrative about someone stepping in front of someone & that caused the abuse is really disturbing. It’s been a story since the beginning and, if it’s coming from him or his camp, it shows a complete lack of accountability. Getting physical and then somehow blaming the person who reacted & how that caused you to harm them more…..no.bro. I’ve heard it time and time again from abusive men and it’s the same narrative- if they hadn’t xxxx (insert: push my buttons, stepped in front of me, got in my face, didn’t get out of the way when I lunged) then I wouldn’t have hit them. Dude should go to batterer intervention. Stat.
Saw a newspaper account once how someone was killed when they stepped into the path of a bullet. I guess it’s like that.
Well said.
Sad when you compare the sparkle that was in Paul Newman’s eyes to the glint that is now in Brad Pitt’s.
The article says that she doesn’t want Brad to be prosecuted. It doesn’t say that she’s not cooperating with DCFS. DCFS is separate from law enforcement.
Yeah and Angie doesn’t get to decided whether they go forward or not. Her saying she “doesn’t want charges pressed” or even if she does, that doesn’t mean anything to them. They do their investigation and decide how to go forward. So she’s in no way saving him or throwing him under the bus.
If charges were brought against Pitt & Angelina refuses to cooperate, the case goes nowhere.
I disagree, Katniss. If they had enough evidence to bring charges against him, something they wouldn’t do lightly I’d imagine, whatever she says or doesn’t say won’t matter. Evidence is evidence.
I hope Brad will seek help sincerely and fully. I still root for both of them and the kids. I began to like Brad the past few years and thought this was horrid of him. However, I do think there’s still some decency and remorse in him, unlike Depp. While I am sad that they are divorcing, I hope the whole family finds peace and the kids grow up well-adjusted.
Also, not quite sure what to make of her stand so I won’t judge yet, but I get the part of why she said Brad struck Maddox. I mean, is she supposed to lie? She’s just offering the facts. Maybe she’s flawed but perhaps she prefers that Brad goes for rehab first instead of being charged.
As an aside, I cannot wait to see Angie in an action movie. She’s in her element.
“I do think there’s still some decency and remorse in him, unlike Depp. ”
Why do you think that? Heard said Depp was always sweet and nice when sober. And aside from being very charitable, I’ve always heard/read the best stories about his kindness and generosity from people who have known/met or worked with him.
Yes, Depp and Brad always had good stories. I think Brad has some decency left (no, he’s no angel, I am comparing him to quite the low that is Depp) because he has agreed to individual and family counseling. This means he may have some remorse and may want to get better. But Depp has showed no remorse after Amber filed and even wanted the last word about her donation, what more go to rehab. Counselling may not be rehab but it’s a start. Does Depp even want to start?
@Jade I feel like both suitations are different. Unlike Pitt and Jolie, Depp and Heard had a short relationship with no kids.
We don’t know how Pitt would be handling this if it weren’t for the kids.
Yes, perhaps you’re right Obrihye. We wouldn’t know how Brad would react if he had no kids. Actually we don’t know much about these people anyway but sadly, my opinion of Depp has deeply soured and likely is irreversible. Hope Keanu Reeves doesn’t screw up!
Depp was totally sober when he decided to gas light Amber Heard, call her a liar, not call off his dogs when they dragged her (see his scum bag friends), hurt her career and deny that he had physically attacked her. First he abused her, then he ruined her. He sucks.
@MC2 How do you know he was totally sober during all that?
Depp is surrounded by an entourage of enablers and sycophants. Brads struck a me as seeing reality a little closer. He also is. A coddled celebrity, but he still has close relatives who could call him off in his bullsh*t if he doesn’t close off like Depp.
@MC2: How did Depp hurt Heard’s career? Did she get dropped by WB from the DC roles as Mera? No, that did not happen even though her case was interfering with her costume fittings. She had no role outside of that set up at the time, so what work has she lost that was due to the divorce?
If anything her career picked up when she got with him and if the roles she got while with him aren’t hits than her career will go back to what it was when she wasn’t with him which was pretty nonexistent.
Obrihye- I didn’t say he was totally sober throughout all that- I was trying to say that at some point he was not completely drunk & still chose to be on the path of destroying her. He was likely sober when he met with attorneys (or not completed drunk) and made up his mind to go after her. People have been using him being drunk as an excuse and it’s bs because his physical abuse was bad but his destruction of her was premeditated & being drunk is not an excuse for that.
Jinni- He tried to destroy her publicly and that will hurt her career. He tried to destroy her in the court of public opinion and that will absolutely affect her box office draw. The whole “her career benefited from being with him”……no. He abused her and then lied about it & painted her the liar. If you really think that a woman who accuses a powerful man w/ tons of connections of abuse will “just go back to what it was”- you are living in lay lay land.
Why does the bar have to be set so damn low…
^This
I hope that if this is something that can be worked out that they do. Blah
I hope they work it out privately too, for the kids sake. I think it’s a great outcome that they will all be having therapy.
Call me cynical but I think we are being played here. If a settlement had been reached, with visitation etc as has been described, but you wanted to put it out there that Brad had struck the child in the face, what better spin to put on it than this? It’s already been said that it’s very unlikely that he will be prosecuted due to lack of evidence.
These two, esp AJ, have manipulated the media so much over the years that I can’t help but take everything I hear with a huge pinch of salt. Every story I assess to see ‘who benefits from this spin’? This one strikes me as favourable to AJ.
#team kids
I agree. I don’t recall him hitting Maddox in the face ever being included in the leaks, with the exception of his lawyer’s comment. And the reaction to that was, “who said he hit him in the face?” But this story now includes that that is what she is alleging. Add the fact that she’s just added two new trial lawyers to her team…she’s still readying for battle and Brad needs to gear up because he’s going to have to fight for joint physical custody.
I also think the story about her being in talks to star in that movie may be BS. I don’t think she fits the age range. But it’s a way to combat the rumors of her having ambitions in the UN and wanting to move to London. I think the public reaction to those stories was negative (and misogynistic) so this shows she is still “staying in her lane” so to speak.
It was in the first story about the split on TMZ, and it had a different reaction than “who said he hit him?” It was an immediate denial of ‘not the face, the shoulder.’
I remember it only being vague, physical contact, verbal abuse, etc. The original TMZ story and for days after never said he hit Maddox in the face.
She just hired 2 more top lawyers though. Even if she doesn’t want him prosecuted, she doesn’t want to lose full custody either imo. Even if they have to co-parent, I think she would like to have them most of the time, I cannot believe she would lawyer up so much and control the narrative from the get-go if the end goal wasn’t about custody working in her favour. If she just wants co-parenting, it would be such a breeze to figure out things no?
I think they are complying with the DCFS because anything else looks bad. I don’t think either of them are liking it that after 12 years of, by all accounts, good parenting (15 for Jolie), they have the DCFS on their case because Pitt decides it’s good thing to become a hot mess in front of his own family and employees. He’s such a douche for putting his family under this kind of pressure.
I don’t think she wants permanent full custody. Those lawyers issued letter of warnings to tabloids that they are writing false and inflammatory stories about her children. I think that was the purpose of hiring them.
i think she hired them because she’s wants to sue the tabloids. Bert Fields is the one Tom Cruise uses to sue. I say it’s about damn time.
I believe Pitt has been planting false allegations to save his image and he is not thinking about the kids at all. He cares about one thing above all else— HIS CAREER!!
I don’t think he is planting these stories. Who was then planting all these awful tabloid stories about them for the past 12 years? Tabloids invent stories all the time about everyone.
There is no way she will sue the tabloids. As a celebrity/public figure the law favors freedom of the press. She would have to prove it was false, printed without any due diligence and with malicious intent and show actual financial damages. Tom Cruise made a huge mistake doing that. It opened him up to a deposition and the lawyers from the tabloid could ask all the questions they wanted about Suri, the divorce, his religion, ect. That’s why he never went through with it or finished being deposed and in the end he just gave them more exclusive material to print straight from the horse’s mouth.
She and Brad successfully sued News Of The World six years ago when they printed a false story that they had split up.
They were referring to American tabloids (Cruise tried to sue the publisher of In Touch). Many major stars have successfully sued tabloids not based in the US.
What are the new lawyers all about? She’s got some big guns on her team now. She wouldn’t need all those lawyers just to sue the tabloids. Is she about to drop a bomb on Brad? Or is this some form of intimidation to show him she has more firepower than he has? I was hoping they would be able to reach some kind of rapprochement and maybe stay together but it sounds like she’s playing for keeps. This is getting more and more like ” tune in tomorrow for the next exciting episode”.
Or maybe she would need them to sue tabloids. They are entertainment lawyers, not divorce lawyers. We are all just assuming things.
I’ll start with saying that spanking, hitting, striking or any other type of corporal punishment is wrong and should not be used as a way of raising your kids. But sometime, a person can get really exasperated (and kids can become really exasperating) and while I don’t condone it, I can understand that a usually nice person could slap a kid and it shouldn’t be a criminal offense (or else, most European parents and most immigrant parents in North America would be investigated by child services).
Whatever happened, it seems like Brad behaved badly; he was drunk, he was exasperated from being stuck in a plane for a 10+ hour flight (even a private plane can be daunting at that point), surrounded by kids and adults that were probably just as annoyed as he was, he may have been arguing with Angie and Maddox interfered because he was tired of hearing his parents arguing or he was arguing with Maddox as it happens often between parents and teenagers and at some point he snapped and try to slap Maddox or shove him out of the way. Again, both things are wrong and I could understand why a spouse could see this as a last straw and decide to leave. It is wrong, it’s illegal, but it’s not a reason to prosecute or strip a parent out of a kid’s life. Angie has done everything by the book as soon as child services became involved (they’ll tell you to ask for physical custody until it finishes the investigation) as she should, but it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t think that Brad is an unfit parent. From what we’ve heard, Brad is not a rage-driven monster and it doesn’t seem like this sort of things have happened in the past (Angie would not have let it happen more than once) and he probably feels terrible about it (as he should).
This is a sad story overall, it’s sad for the kids and for the parents involved. But let’s not turn it into something bigger than it is.
Agreed, pretty much across the board. They have 20 days to calm down and sort things out. They are all having therapy, Brad is being monitored for drink and drugs. They have a therapist to help them through the first visit. If this doesn’t lead to an agreement on shared custody, then the court is going to decide for them and it will be based on facts and the therapist reports, not on tabloid sources and public opinion.
I agree.
“They’ll tell you to ask for physical custody until it finishes the investigation”
NO THEY WON’T. This line of reasoning has been disproven over and over again. CPS won’t make you get divorced or tell you to file for physical custody. Just like they would not have taken the kids away and put them in foster care if she hadn’t filed for divorce. Filing for divorce and asking for physical custody was 100% her choice.
In California what they will do is give you non-legally binding recommendations as far as what they would like to see you do as they wrap up their investigation. If you follow it great, if you don’t they may press ahead on their investigation and try to get it sorted out and taken to family court or the prosecutors and police if necessary. If something happens that they consider a crisis and feel the kids are in immediate danger (not a father hitting a kid’s shoulder and yelling at them and having a clean drug test) they can take emergency custody for 72 hours for that to be extended they have to go before a judge and give evidence as to why he should issue a order for their removal. This is extreme and fairly rare, under 5% of cases end up with the child(ren) being removed from their parent(s).
actually, cps are kind of unhelpful, stupid to full blow scum. We like to think that these services are great, but people without a social worker license work there. They are NOT senior-level medical doctors, they are just people, who cannot pass the California licensing test. If angie and brad with high powered lawyers are having problems, imagine what it would be like for the rest of us.
Um, it’s illegal then it’s prosecutable…that’s the whole point.
Once again we’re reminded that child abuse is the only interpersonal violence that’s viewed widely as acceptable. If a stranger attacked their son people would be horrified.
The vibe I get is that although Brad indeed might have struck Maddox, prosecuting him will not benefit anyone in the family. The incident may not have been so bad to the point of prosecution. I think Angelina wants to move forward to an amicable agreement where no one is hurt. Of course she does want her terms granted.
From the point of view of the child, it helps to see the parent that hurt you held accountable in some way. Whether in this case it means prosecution is up to the team working on this case, but it is essential that the child’s victimization be validated. It’s even more essential that the parent acknowledge and apologize, and at least in the press/public spehere, that is not happening.
I think we are projecting our beliefs onto this family, who are these people? Yes, assault can be prosecuted but cases like these fall into a gray area. That’s why you’re hearing the word intent. Pitt had to intend to cause Maddox harm when he struck him, otherwise his actions are careless, reckless & negligent. Situations like these are rarely prosecuted because despite what you think children don’t want to see their parents in trouble. I never did & I was abused. And it wasn’t careless bevavior, it was intent to harm. I still didn’t want to see anything happen, just for the abuse to stop.
Spousal abuse as well. If stranger attacked you on the street, you wouldn’t run back to them. Not sure why people think it’s normal and go back.
Women who are assaulted by their husbands or boyfriends don’t necessarily think it’s normal, but the physical violence has usually escalated from emotional manipulation for months or years and by that point the victims think they were deserving and that no one else will want them. There may also be children involved, financial dependency and other issues.
Why put it out there you ask. Because Olivia Pope. A prosecution was always extremely unlikely. In sending this to TMZ (what a surprise!), she avoids the PR repurcussions WHEN the FBI declines to charge him. Brad also accepted the drug testing and monitoring and when that inevitably comes back clean (his handlers would ensure it), she would have had a MAJOR problem. She is already being perceived as having exergerrated the incident for whatever ends so these two things would only drive that perception further.
I dont for a second believe she was just “waking him up”. There are far smarter ways to go about an intervention. At the very least, some that dont force your kids into hiding for weeks or allow for a media frenzy that violates the little privacy they have been allowed over the years. She made a major miscalculation and is now seriously regretting it, hence the attempt to change the subject with talk of a new movie. I said when this story broke the only saving grace was that the authorities were involved. Sure they were always unlikely to charge him, because child abuse is treated like a grey area, but I was glad they were involved. It’s disturbing to me that she won’t cooperate. It’s disturbing when any parent refuses to cooperate with a child abuse investigations but even moreso when that decision is partly driven by image concerns. My only positive from this whole mess is that the kids will have counselling which can never be a bad thing
How is she not cooperating? All the kids were interviewed about the incident by CPS, so were the parents. They made their recommendations and both Brad and Angelina agreed to them.
I tend to agree with you, Naya.
This was pretty much my take on it, too. I could she why she’d refuse to cooperate further because it’s the only way to let this matter drop and allow the family to move on fairly quickly. And yes I agree that it’s for image reasons because that’s how this whole thing began, with carefully worded statements designed to create a very specific image.
As I’ve said before, we have no idea what really happened…but it seems clear that the best way for the family to get through this divorce and heal is to allow both parents to be present in their kids’ lives.
I really don’t get that perception that she wants him out of kids lives. If she wanted that she would ask for full physical AND legal custody and would ask for supervised visitations. She asked for kids to live with her, for him to have visitations, and for joined legal custody, which means all the decisions about children have to be made by BOTH parents. And, she said that was NEVER meant to be PERMANENT.
allaboard, I don’t know what she said. I initially thought what was she was asking for in her original filing wasn’t all that unreasonable, that she had to have reasons that made sense for their family or their lifestyle. But when all the messy allegations started exploding I realized I had no idea what was really going on, that a lot of crap has been thrown around and it’s gotten way uglier than I would have guessed and that seems like a big shame for the kids.
@Esmom
I agree. What I wanted to say is that that was what she requested in divorce filing. It is a big shame for the kids. We have no idea how that incident affected kids, and what is going on with them. Angelina said that she filed for the health of her family and I tend to believe that. I am mother, and I know that I would remove my children from unhealthy situation to give them time to heal. CPS is involved now, they prescribed therapy for all involved and that is a very good thing. I hope they come out of that with clearer heads and good will, because, even when marriage ends, they are all going to be family for the rest of their life
Well said, Naya.
Naya – spot on. Couldn’t agree more.
One of the first statements Angelina’s entertainment lawyer said when she filed for divorce is she was taking these actions for the “health of her family”.I always thought it was interesting why she didn’t say the health of her children.I have always believed her asking for sole custody was a wake up call for Brad to get his sh## together.I always believed it was a temporary thing.
I believe accidentally struck Maddox,he was not physically injured and Maddox doesn’t want his father prosecuted.
Hopefully through family counseling this “family” will heal.Whether they are married or not Brad will always be a member of her family.They wil always be connected for the rest of their lives.
I’m with you Colette.
Totally agree @naya. I said something similar in an earlier post before I read this.
I agree with you. Angelina went with scorched earth tactics and she may now be seeing it does not benefit her or the children to do so. Especially since it appears Pitt will not be facing any prosecution, is fully cooperating, and her chances of sole custody get smaller.
I agree with you Naya. The DCFS told them to make a temporary agreement of custody or they would have to go to court, so they had to do it. The statement that Angelina’s side (TMZ) said about how she didn’t want him to be prosecuted for child abuse and she would go silent if they interviewed her is pure Olivia Pope. It was already out there that he wouldn’t be prosecuted-it was a family fight. I think she exaggerated, like many others first filing for divorce – you want the other side to look as terrible as possible so you gain the upper hand. I think it backfired when Brad fought back saying what I thought all along – she was exaggerating what happened to make him look as terrible as possible.
I tend to agree with this, great post!
I couldn’t agree more! This is a PR move from her fixer and most people aren’t falling for it. I’m an Angelina fan, but I seriously think she overplayed her hand with this one. I hope it will work out for their kids.
I think you make a lot of good points, especially regarding the change of narrative about the movie role.
i think By the Sea might give us a glimpse into the problem of their marriage more than we realize. i honestly now think that their rows are like the scenes of By the Sea, where they don’t shy off the physical. (even maybe Mr and Mrs Smith fight scene)
only when compounded by alcohol you can get out of control and cannot pull your punchces any more, or can’t purposely hold back your full strength.
i only wonder whether their fights got physical in front of the kids too.
If Pitt was prosecuted over this, if would turn into a complete spectacle and I can’t imagine wanting to put your 15 year old through this. Jolie’s trying to make the best choice for her kids, and right now that could be to shield Maddox from the circus and not to mention the unbearable burden of having to help send his dad to jail (however justified).
Agree.
and unbearable burden of having their WHOLE family life examined – if Brad were charged, his lawyer would surely bring up Angelina’s mental and emotional state as well. Not to mention previous drug use, self-harm etc. There is no way she’d come out of it smelling like a rose. They’ll have to settle the divorce out of court as well to save the family this spectacle.
That will happen if she continues to ask for full physical custody but it would be irrelevant to any criminal charges. The only relevant questions would be if she was under the influence during the event he is being charged for because it would go to her credibility as a witness.
The FBI doesn’t have a lot of experience in he said/she said abuse cases anyway. It isn’t what they do. Local prosecutors are much more experienced at handling domestic violence cases. They have a better idea of how to prove it wasn’t accidental, handle uncooperative victims and it is part of their job. FBI agents and Assistant US Attorneys didn’t work their butts off to handle domestic violence and might resent having to deal with it.
There is no report anywhere that they are going to prosecute him anyway,so why put this out?it’s like she is telling the world that brad is a drunk father that could be put in jail but here I am saving his ass. I av always read that she is a great media manipulator and for the first time I believe it even though am her fan
Yeah, I tend to agree with this and the above points that this is Olivia Pope spin.
I agree. I was always a big fan of Angelina but I don’t like the way she’s handing this. She’s trying to appear magnanimous now that she knows Brad will not be charged. It’s her crisis strategist’s recommendation, I’m sure. Angelina overreached here and now they’re trying to backpedal to save her image. Please, it’s transparent manipulation.
So @minxx how do you feel about Brad Pitt? A guy who gets drunk on planes and gets in physical alterations with his son while drunk?
Pretty strange that your opinion on Jolie has changed if anyone caused this shitstorm it’s Pitt. But I guess you think they should have kept it quiet, because manhandling of kids is not serious right? Bet nobody would brush this incident under the table if he had manhandled his wife….
I agree that this report is coming from the crisis team as a result of the rampant misogyny in the press.. bras will get the sympathy, even though he’s the one in the wrong here. Just like he got the sympathy in the Anniston divorce, even though out of the 3 people involved he was the one in the wrong.
I agree with Minx. As for Brad, if he had hurt the kid he would’ve been prosecuted, but he clearly didn’t.
If somebody had attacked my kid you can be sure I would have him prosecuted. I wouldn’t be thinking about saving the public image of the attacker.
first of all why blame angelina for this ? if brad himself said something happened and aj decided to leave and get out of the toxic situation she shouldnt be blamed. this is unfair – she got judy smith to help her out which is right as she was already been condemned for trying to get her kids out of the situation. Tbh once all the issues are sorted out with the custody i think she sd just move to london once and for all – and do her own thing – perhaps pple will be kinder to her there than in her own country. once again it is sad when she is being blamed for what he did
Yes, this statement seems directly from her new crisis management team designed to still imply wrongdoing on the part of BP but to make AJ seem magnanimous towards BP in not wishing to see him prosecuted – a prosecution which by most, if not all, accounts was/is highly unlikely anyway. Also a prosecution over which she would have no say in the unlikely event the relevant authorities would so incline.
The trend of public opinion has largely gone against AJ’s portrayal of events and the reasons given for, and chosen manner of, pursuing the divorce suit. She now appears to be trying regain some control over the narrative but this approach by her ‘Olivia Pope’ is very mixed message and still hasn’t read well for many since yesterday.
It’s worth noting that BP has already tested clean for drugs and alcohol on a sample taken shortly after the flight day; as given voluntarily when DCFS first visited with him.
It’s also worth noting that neither his future drugs and alcohol testing, nor his first visitation as being supervised, were mandated as a condition of him seeing the children; BP has volunteered for those terms without any compulsion being present.
I think that therapist involvement for all concerned, both individually and as a family group, is a good aspect to have come from this.
I don’t think she seems right for casting in that part and I am sceptical; I think this placing of her considering, or being considered for, this role is designed to serve as a distraction at the moment rather than being anything close to being inked upon.
Yep. Unless something major has been left out of all the stories so far, there’s no way he’s prosecuted. At most they’ll advise that the drug testing and visitation should continue a couple more months, and he might be advised to continue counseling. If Maddox doesn’t want to live with him he’ll have a hard time fighting that in court.
But that’s it. This isn’t a situation where he’s at risk of being prosecuted for child abuse, so Angelina leaking that she doesn’t want him to be is pure PR.
We don’t even know if she actually said this. Tmz says a source. At the moment tmz are getting thousands of hits by writing anything brad & angelina. Tmz could just be stirring it. I wouldn’t put it past them.
Wasn’t it TMZ that broke the story? Sounds like Angelina is using TMZ while Brad uses People and USweekly.
If you scroll down TMZ stories, they are still mostly pro Brad.
According to People Magazine Brad was drunk and got physical
According to US Weekly he was so drunk and he caused damage to the airplane.
According to TMZ Angelina wants alimony and is a bad mom who puts her children’s lives in danger by taking them to dangerous places.
My point is all these sites have said negative things about both of them.
As for TMZ breaking the story,they break almost EVERY divorce because they have paid sources and interns who check the court filings daily.
Yes.
It “appears” that she is responding to all the negative remarks that are being made about her.
Also,very interesting that she keeps lawyering up & up & up…
According to a letter Perez Hilton received, Angelina new lawyers wrote a letter addressing false stories written in the media. It’s about the well-being of their kids. I’m thinking Maddox, most of all.
If Brad did something that the DFSC or police believe is prosecutable, Angelina can’t stop that. This statement makes no sense and I hope she didn’t make it. This nasty passive-aggression can go both ways and no one will benefit.
They actually can refuse to testify, so yeah they can. Given this is not from a medical doctor, it pointless really.
Unless they named names. Sources are really fiction writers.
Maddox is so small and picturing brad nose to nose to him — that must have been scary for him. Poor kid!!
Angelina hired the man who sues the tabloids for Tom Cruise. I believe Brad figured Angelina would sit down and take it because that’s what she used to do but now this is about her kids.
I believe his team waged a smear campaign against her because she told the truth about the plane incident and dared divorce him because of it– he would do anything to save his image and career. JMO
Wow! I thought it was THEIR kids.
Thank you.
Tmz has some crazy sources. Remember the Heard Depp divorce papers? Remember leaks were happening in real time about the lawyers meetings and whose team was late, etc., specific document details that were leaked the entire duration. It was crazy, terrible and unnerving. It may have been that after the initial announcement by Jolie which Brad knew was coming, it was the timing and public nature of announcement he supposedly disagreed with, that unexpected leaks started happening. I’m convinced more got out that any of them planned on or wanted, hence both parents calling in big lawyers, PR management firms and now suddenly some possible joint announcement releases.
Things started off horrible for everyone the hard drugs, Russian hooker, affair with his co-star.. Now it seems like it’s cooled off …whatever happened it’s feeling like they are getting over it which everyone needs to (including us)!
Assuming any of this is factual, perhaps she is thinking of the long-term effects of all of this on her children.
Too much speculation going on for me. Nobody really knows what’s going on here, plus its a personal family matter. Hope the family can mend from this and the parents can work together.
Just saying! Tmz aren’t above lying for more hits.
This might clear a few things up about the airport incident.
http://www.ifallsjournal.com/news/local/officials-pitt-stories-not-true/article_89d83f34-86b0-5117-8fac-4dec53b57adf.html
Thanks for that. I, and a few others here who are somewhat familiar with how things work airside at an airport have been saying this couldn’t have happened for days.
You’re welcome.
Thank you for posting this LittleTeaPot.
Thanks, maybe you can repost in the morning so more people see it?
@ frosty & snowflake (you two should get together)
You are most welcome.
these people are just like you me and everyone else behind closed doors. they get sore throats, upset stomachs, headaches, they get upset ,jealous, nasty and whatever else and they lose it just like everybody does. only thing that sets them apart is their celebrity and oodles of money, difference from other humans ? ……not much, not much at all. they all seem to be very flawed people with big problems.
It’s a tough spot for Maddox to be in. Ange says Brad hit him in the face and Brad says he didn’t. I’d hate the kid to get put on a stand and have to confirm what happened. He’d feel like he was being forced to pick a side, even if he was telling the truth.
Brad must find having a therapist suprvise his visits with his kids terribly degrading, especially after he’s had years of positive press gushing about what a great father he is.
If this is a one time thing and depending what the teenager may have said I don’t think this is like prosecution abuse etc no ? From what I read that is. Its good thing also drugs are ruled out, some speculation at first had it drugs were involved.
I think when a couple are in stressed relationship or situations and arguing with rage etc the decisions will be with anger and made situations very emotional and just cut for relief out it all..imo.
The thing is it needs further 1st hand say to tell what are the real deals leading to this..
Still, i hope they settle this and be at peace and some how they find happiness which ever way they want go about the whole thing.
It will be good thing if she actually takes even strong support in action movie again. She’s at her best like that imo
I think she’s more interested in “forcing” Brad to get the help he clearly needs. If the CPS are the ones that force him into it, I think she’s fine with it as long as there’s no actual trial on the matter.
At least that’s how I read it.