Brad Pitt won’t react to son calling him ‘awful human being,’ prefers ‘dignified silence’
The resurfaced social media post by Pitt's second son, Pax Jolie-Pitt, has again raised questions about the A-lister's relationship with his six children in the wake of his bitter divorce from Angelina Jolie.
Because Brad Pitt has “great respect for all of his children,” he will continue his stance of generally not commenting on them to the media, even after news broke Monday that his second son Pax Jolie-Pitt allegedly called him a “world-class a-hole” and an “awful human being” in a resurfaced social media post.
Page Six cited a source close to the Oscar-winning actor who said that he has “no reaction” to a Daily Mail report, which published a screenshot of Pax Jolie Pitt’s private 2020 Instagram post. According to the screen shot, the then-16-year-old slammed Pitt on Father’s Day of that year, penning a screed over a photo of the actor accepting his Oscar several months earlier for his best supporting actor performance in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
“You time and time again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person,” Pax Jolie-Pitt allegedly wrote. Four years earlier, his mother, Angelina Jolie, filed for divorce after Pitt allegedly became intoxicated and abusive to her and at least two of their six children on a private plane ride from Europe to Los Angeles.
“You have no consideration or empathy toward your 4 youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence,” Pax Jolie-Pitt reportedly continued, referring to his sisters, Zahara, now 18, and Shiloh, 17, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15. Pax also has an older brother, 22-year-old Maddox, who was reported to be the focus of Pitt’s alleged ire during that highly publicized plane ordeal. It’s also long been reported that Maddox is estranged from his father.
Pax Jolie-Pitt also said the “Fight Club” actor would “never understand the damage” he inflicted on their family, because he is “incapable of doing so,” according to the Daily Mail report.
“You have made the lives of those closest to me a constant hell,” Pax Jolie-Pitt continued, according to the report. “You may tell yourself and the world whatever you want, but the truth will come to light someday.”
The Sun quoted someone who is said to be one of Pitt’s close friends, saying: “It’s depressing to see this dragged up.”
“It’s frustrating to see Brad being painted as some kind of ‘bad person’ when it’s far from the truth,” the friend also said. “He chooses to keep a dignified silence and that speaks volumes.”
The person who talked to Page Six dismissed the idea that Pitt finds the situation with Pax to be “depressing” and “frustrating.” Instead, the Page Six source said, “This is just unfortunate that people would keep trying to bring kids into things.”
“It’s been a long seven years and it’s unfortunate when people unnecessarily raise issues from so far in the past … (and) don’t take into consideration the impact it has on the whole family,” the Page Six source continued.
However Pitt truly feels about the resurfaced post, Pax Jolie-Pitt’s alleged remarks once again raise questions about the actor’s relationship with his children in the wake of that 2016 plane ride and his bitter and protracted custody fight with Jolie.
Last year, Jolie alleged in court documents that Pitt mistreated her and their six children during the plane ride, saying that Pitt choked one of their children and struck another across the face, as he terrorized his entire family for hours on the flight from France to Los Angeles. Pitt has long denied being abusive, though he has given multiple interviews in which acknowledged his struggles with alcohol and managing his anger.
The FBI investigated Pitt in 2016 for alleged child abuse but decided against pursuing criminal charges, Page Six reported. Sources close to Pitt also have long suggested that the domestic abuse allegations were part of a “smear campaign” by Jolie to gain an advantage in the custody battle and to alienate him from his children.
But now that the custody fight has died down, sources told The Sun that half of Pitt’s children choose not to see him at all.
Pitt’s oldest daughter, Zahara Jolie-Pitt, has given signs that she might have distanced herself from her father. It was reported last week that she had conspicuously failed to mention her father’s last name when she proudly declared herself a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Spelman College, a historically Black college in Atlanta, Page Six reported.
Essence magazine shared a clip of Zahara Jolie-Pitt at the sorority’s induction ceremony, at which the 18-year-old appeared to shout “Zahara Marley Jolie” when introducing herself.
Zahara was adopted from Ethiopia in 2005, first by Jolie as a single mother and then by Jolie and Pitt together when they became a couple. Incidentally, Maddox and Pax Jolie-Pitt also were first adopted by Jolie — Maddox from Cambodia and Pax from Vietnam — before Pitt joined in the adoption.
The Sun said that court restrictions imposed on Pitt after Jolie filed for divorce could have limited the time he was able to spend with his children. But now that his three adopted children have become adults, they have chosen to not see much of their father, if at all, The Sun said.
“As far as Maddox, Pax and Zahara go, the word is that they are totally in support of their mother and Brad doesn’t hear from them these days at all — certainly not the boys, and it’s been that way for a very long time,” the insider told The Sun.
A recent Vogue profile of Jolie also suggested that Pitt doesn’t have much of a role in his children’s lives, as it refers to Jolie as a “single mother of six.” Jolie is often seen in public with the children, photographed by paparazzi while shopping or appearing together at red-carpet Hollywood events.
Pitt, on the other hand, hasn’t been photographed with them since 2016, Page Six reported. He also hasn’t introduced his children to his new girlfriend, Ines de Ramon, whom he has been dating for a year, The Sun reported.
Pitt’s relationship with his two biological daughters may be strained, according to The Sun. Right now, Vivienne is working with her mother in New York on a stage musical version of the film, “The Outsiders,” The Sun reported. The 15-year-old is an assistant on the show, which Jolie is producing. There also are signs that Pitt’s relationship with Shiloh is no longer close, The Sun said. In 2021, she also dropped the Pitt part of her name off her private Instagram account.