Brad Pitt’s estrangement from Angelina Jolie has had more than one unfortunate consequence: his six children were not only cut out of his life but his mother’s as well, Daily Mail can reveal.
Pitt’s children hadn’t seen their doting grandmother Jane Pitt – who died on Tuesday at the age of 84 – for nine years.
Sources close to Pitt described the situation as ‘gut-wrenching’ to Daily Mail and blamed Jolie’s intransigence for the lack of contact.
‘The most gut-wrenching part is that Angelina kept the kids away from his parents, from their own grandparents,’ one insider said.
‘The question Brad has – that we all have – is Angelina where is your heart? Are you going to remain bitter for the rest of your life?
‘It’s one thing if she wants no contact, but what about the kids?’
Pitt, 66, was known to be close to his mother who made a smattering of red-carpet appearances by her famous son’s side.
The retired school counselor raised the megastar in the modest town of Springfield, Missouri, alongside his younger siblings Doug and Julie.
Jane was known to be proud of her son’s acting career and was supportive of it from the start, even before he got his big break in the 1991 blockbuster Thelma and Louise.
Previously unseen Daily Mail photos show the veteran star hugging his mother while dressed as a woman during his 1980s college days where the acting bug first bit.
The image was taken while he was studying for a journalism degree at the University of Missouri and was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity which often staged shows.
Not long after the photo was taken, he moved to Los Angeles in search of fame and a film career – both of which he achieved in spectacular style.
But despite his success, Pitt has never forgotten his midwestern roots and in 2019, was spotted back in Springfield hugging his mom as dad Bill looked on.
Sadly, Bill, like Jane, has also been cut off from Shiloh, 19, twins Vivienne and Knox, 17, and their adopted siblings Maddox, 24, Pax, 21 and Zahara, 20.
None of them are currently in contact with Pitt and all but Vivienne and Knox have dropped his surname.
Pax is thought to be particularly resistant to contact with his dad and famously made headlines in November 2023 when a 2020 Instagram rant in which he called Pitt a ‘world class a**hole’ who makes his four youngest children ‘tremble in fear’ was exposed by Daily Mail.
The source, referring to Pitt’s participation in an Alcoholics Anonymous program, added: ‘Angelina insists that it’s all Brad’s fault. Well, he’s working the Twelve Step program.
‘He’s done his eight and nine steps.
‘Step eight made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
‘Step nine made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. It’s an ongoing practice and he’s working the program.’
Although his efforts haven’t yet borne fruit, a separate source told Daily Mail that Pitt is determined to win his children back and wants nothing more than for them to be back in his life and that of his family.
‘Brad wants nothing more than to have resolution with his kids and to restore a relationship with them,’ the source explained.
‘If they aren’t willing to meet him halfway, that’s one thing but he said his own family, especially his parents, and now his dad, shouldn’t have to suffer from something they had no part of.
‘He said Angelina should have been encouraging the kids to maintain a relationship with their grandparents all along.
‘Hopefully this is a wakeup call. Life is too short and too precious.’
Another source said Brad wants his mother to be remembered for who she was: ‘a mother to Brad, Julie and Doug, and a grandmother to all their children.’
‘Of course it was a shame and hugely emotional that she was unable to see Brad’s kids for years, but she also understood what was happening and never took it out on Angelina or her grandchildren as she knew they might not want to talk to her because of the situation with their father.
‘It was unfortunate but it became her life, she had to adapt.’
