Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox were married for 11 years and divorced in 2021. They share three sons together, Noah Shannon, 11, Boshi Ransom, 10, and Journey River, seven. Brian also has two other sons, Kassius Lijah, 21, with Brenda Barett Vanessa Marcil (I grew up watching General Hospital!) and 22-month-old Zane Walker with his fiancée, Sharna Burgess. BAG and Vanessa had a lot of issues with each other while raising Kass, which cringingly played out publicly over Instagram last year. I guess Brian and Megan didn’t want a repeat of that situation because according to BAG, they are doing well at coparenting together. During an appearance at Steel City Con in Monroeville, PA last weekend Brian spoke to E! News and shared some secrets for successful coparenting.
The “number one” secret to co-parenting: “The number one,” Brian exclusively told E! News at Steel City Comic Con April 13, “is always make sure that everything is centered around the experience of the kids.”
Accept that the change will affect your kids: “People make a mistake of thinking that they’re gonna do things so the separation doesn’t affect the kids and that’s—of course it’s gonna affect the kids,” he noted. “The only choice you have is how it affects the kids.”
“Pick your battles:” And that’s not to say putting the kids first is always easy for Brian and Megan, who split in 2021 after 11 years of marriage. In fact, he admitted that sometimes it’s important to “pick your battles.”
“The person that you were with that you’re now separated from, you guys are separated for a reason,” Brian continued, “because you didn’t get along. So, you can’t expect to then get along after the fact in raising your kids. So, you have to decide, ‘OK, it’s not about us getting along anymore. It’s about us co-parenting, which is a totally different situation.'”
Megan’s similar sentiments: “I think it’s really important when people separate to never ever disparage the other parent or even in a passive aggressive way, make remarks,” Megan said during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show last fall. “I don’t let anything in my energy like that when I’m around my kids because if I don’t accept and love their father I’m rejecting a part of them because he’s a part of who they are always.”
Avoid the “burden of a war between parents:” Noting that she always makes a point to “be very loving with him and about him” and be “very accepting,” the 37-year-old—who is engaged to Machine Gun Kelly—added, “That gives your children the freedom to be happy because they don’t have to carry the burden of a war between parents.”
Honestly, good for Brian and Megan, having their coparenting sh-t figured out. I remember there being some drama over the boys when they first separated, but it seems like they’ve worked it out. Regardless of how you feel about either of them as people, it’s great that they put their differences aside to successfully raise their boys. I’ve spoken with friends who have divorced parents, and some of them have said that the most difficult part was how their parents still didn’t get along after the divorce because they always felt like they had to pick a side. I also briefly worked at a family law firm, and to see some of the ways that parents fought over their children, money, control, etc. was awful, which is why I didn’t last long in that area of law, lol. Even when divorce is the best and right option, it’s still difficult for everyone involved, so you should always keep in mind what is best for your children and what they’re going through. If what Brian says is true, good on him and Megan for doing that.
Photos credit: JPI Studios / Avalon, Image Press Agency / Avalon, imago stock&people / Avalon
This sounds good. When they broke up, BAG came across as a controlling a-hole and they weren’t on the same page. It sounds like they were able to take a step back and look at the situation as what would be best for their kids. Honestly, good for them!
Didn’t Megan file a couple times but withdraw it? I feel like they almost divorced a few times before 2021.
It’s “important to pick your battles” sounds like snarky subtext to me, when we’re talking about an interview instead of a therapy session.
When one of my friends split with her husband, things weren’t always smooth on the co parenting front. but her mom put it in perspective when her son came back from a weekend with his father with his hair cut into a mohawk (I thought it was super cute) He was 7 or so. She blew up but before she could call her ex, her mom asked her, is THIS the hill you want to die on? Or is a haircut just a haircut? That was helpful. As a mom of an autistic child, I picked my battles A LOT. It was the most helpful parenting advice ever.
Yeah that comment was def passive aggressive snark aimed at Meghan which tells me she doesn’t put up with his controlling BS. He’s an asshat and always has been.
It comes off as Anchorman IRL.
Also, it sounds like he had a baby really quickly with current lady, which…… again, given the greater context…. 🙁
I think “pick your battles” is great advice and not just for relationships.
Nothing impresses me more as an adult than people who (1) are divorced and shut up and never put their kids in the middle, and (2) step parents who either step in fully b/c an original parent is not present, or when both parents are present, step in as – i am not your mom or dad, but i am a parental figure and i am 100% team kid!
Good for both of them.
I worked in a family law office and you could not pay me to practice family law. Because your client is going through a horrible time, and there is no way to make them happy. I remember a client coming in saying: he cut her hair over the weekend. In the next custody order i want it to explicitly say he can’t cut her hair!
So – people acting right about the kids in their lives- that is at the top of the list.
Where do the claims that he’s controlling come from? I always hear this accusation but I have yet to hear any actual examples of it. They seem to have a decent relationship based on mutual respect. He does not disparage her ever– on the contrary comes to her defense when gross comments have been made about how Megan parents her boys. I honestly don’t get where that controlling characterization comes from.
The shade is not lost, here. Wish he would just keep it in his pants.