Brad Pitt remains estranged from Maddox, who never saw himself as Brads son
Brad Pitt has been estranged from his two oldest sons since that fateful incident on a private plane in 2016. We only know a few things for sure, gathered from bits and pieces of reporting and unnamed sources: Brad and Angelina were arguing, Brad was drunk, Maddox stepped in between them to defend his mom and Brad did *something* to Maddox. What that something was… we still haven’t established. Brad possibly took a swing at his teenage son, or maybe it was a hard shove. Whatever it was, it was enough for Angelina to take the kids and never look back. Despite Brad’s best efforts to look like a doting father now, only his four youngest kids will spend any time with him. So why the rehash? I don’t know. Us Weekly wants to rehash though:
Family drama. It’s no secret that Brad Pitt and his son Maddox Jolie-Pitt have had a strained relationship ever since the actor, 55, allegedly got into an altercation with the now-18-year-old on a private plane in 2016. Us Weekly broke the story of the notorious incident, which reportedly spurred Angelina Jolie to file for divorce after two years of marriage and 11 years together as a couple. The headstrong teen “is very close with Angie,” a family friend exclusively reveals in the current issue of Us Weekly. According to a second source, even though Pitt legally adopted the boy in 2006 after he and Jolie fell in love on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2004, “Maddox doesn’t really see himself as Brad’s son.”
Their relationship continued to be strained since the incident. A Jolie source once described the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star as a “big yeller” when it came to the kids. Pitt was allegedly inebriated on the 2016 flight, which opened the door to investigations from the FBI and the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services. Though the Fury actor was cleared of any wrongdoing, he had to jump through hoops — including attending therapy sessions, attending Alcoholics Anonymous and undergoing drug and alcohol testing — in order to prove his fitness as a father while Jolie had physical custody of the kids.
But for Maddox, it was too little, too late. Even holidays didn’t soften his resolve. This past Christmas, Maddox, along with his brother Pax, opted out of opening presents at dad’s with their four younger siblings. “Maddox refused to go, and Pax didn’t go either,” a source told Us at the time. And while part of Maddox’s decision is his simmering resentment against his adoptive father, another insider notes that he’s also a typically independent teenager. “[Maddox and Pax] spend more time with their friends and are busy doing their own thing,” says the insider. “They spend less time than they used to with the younger kids and the family.”
I’m kind of surprised that Us Weekly reported that straight, without too many little asides blaming Angelina for everything. I do think it’s funny/gross that they describe Brad as “jumping through hoops,” like… how dare the legal system try to protect children from an alcoholic father who got into a physical confrontation with his minor child? Anyway, just a reminder that Brad’s oldest sons still hate his guts and want nothing to do with him.
Perhaps we’re getting the rehash because Brad’s about to start promoting Ad Astra, which still looks like an utterly bizarre space drama. The new IMAX trailer is out and… while this movie looks beautiful, I can already see that it’s got a tone problem. Is it a contemplative drama? Or a space thriller? Or an action movie? Who knows.
The poster is stupid too.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red, poster courtesy of Disney.
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