We knew it was coming, and here it is. We knew that Brad Pitt’s PR would work overtime around the F1 promotion, and we knew that Pitt’s people wouldn’t keep Angelina Jolie’s name out of their mouths. We also knew that Pitt is a forever deadbeat to the six children he terrorized on a private plane in 2016. Now that most of those kids are legal adults and they still want absolutely nothing to do with him, Pitt’s PR has to do the most to obfuscate that fact. Enter Us Weekly, which is doing way too much to lavish praise on Brad for no reason whatsoever. I guess Apple cut them a check. Some highlights from their cover story:

He’s in a good place right now: “Brad’s in a good place,” says the Pitt source. It took some work to get there. Pitt revealed in 2017 that he’d gotten sober and started therapy. “He’s done a lot of therapy over the years,” says a second Pitt source. All signs point to this being the summer of Pitt. (Early reviews of F1 predict a massive box office success.) “Brad knows F1 will be a hit,” the second source tells Us Weekly. “It’s thrilling for him.”

His kids hate him: Five of the six kids he shares with Jolie (Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 20, Shiloh, 19, and 16-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox) have publicly distanced themselves from him (Shiloh legally dropped his name on her 18th birthday; Zahara and Vivienne also appear to go by “Jolie” only. In 2020, Pax shared a since-deleted Instagram post calling Pitt a “world-class a**hole” and Maddox dodged questions about mending his relationship with Pitt in 2019). The estrangements occurred amid Pitt’s brutal legal tug-of-war with Jolie, 50, over custody issues and their French winery, Château Miraval (the fight over the $164 million property continues in a separate lawsuit; a trial is expected to begin next year.) In court documents filed in 2022, Jolie alleged that a drunken Pitt assaulted and verbally abused her and two of their children during a trip aboard a private plane in 2016.

Brad’s PR: Mark Borkowski, founder of Borkowski PR, tells Us Pitt’s Greek God looks do a lot of heavy lifting (“When you’re that genetically gifted, the scandal has to work twice as hard to stick,” he says), adding that the public forgives Pitt “because he never comes across as smug and seems vaguely apologetic for being Brad.” Says the first source: “The public has seen he’s someone who’s been able to be self-aware and self-reflective. Years ago, he acknowledged his mistakes and he’s worked to improve them.”

This is horses-t: By and large, Pitt has kept his head down, only addressing Jolie’s allegations through his lawyers. “In the modern fame game, where celebrities rush to share their trauma in an Instagram carousel or recount their healing journey via podcast, Brad did the one thing no one expects anymore,” notes Borkowski. “He kept quiet.” Evan Nierman, founder and CEO of PR firm Red Banyan, agrees it was a smart tactic. “That silence gave him control,” says Nierman. “Instead of feeding the headlines, he let them run their course while he focused on work.”

Brad’s quieter life: “Brad has always had a good balance between being in the spotlight and having a private life,” says the first source. The second source tells Us Pitt spends his downtime sculpting and listening to music and has “embraced” a quieter lifestyle in recent years. “He likes a slower [pace] now,” explains the source, adding that the actor surrounds himself with “a tight circle” of longtime friends.

Poor Brad, his kids justifiably hate him: The second source says that those close to the actor are aware of how difficult the estrangement from his kids has been. “They know about the deep emotional weight he carries, particularly about his family,” explains the source, noting that Pitt “has made several efforts to reconnect with his kids.” He sees the twins “periodically,” adds the source, “but the rest of the relationships are strained. It’s caused him a lot of heartbreak.” Still, “He’s known to process things quietly and privately.”

[From Us Weekly]

The “he kept quiet” thing is a complete lie. Sure, he wasn’t giving tons of interviews, nor was he on social media (he doesn’t have social media), but as soon as Angelina filed for divorce, Brad hired a huge crisis management team and never looked back. His team has been smearing Angelina for years and throwing huge pity parties for “poor Brad” whenever they can. This is another pity party – poor Brad, so devastated by the estrangement HE CAUSED. Poor Brad, his kids hate him because they witnessed what he did to their mother! Now, all that being said, this sh-t “works” on a lot of people. The whole narrative about “Brad’s still got it, Brad’s a real one, Brad’s done the work” works on so many people, especially in Hollywood. I just hope that everyone else sees what’s really going on.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, cover courtesy of Us Weekly.