This weekend, Brad Pitt’s twins, Knox and Vivienne, turn 17, and he would love to see his two youngest children, according to a new report.
But the 61-year-old star of the new hit movie “F1” has to overcome years of reported estrangement from all six of his children, due to his bitter divorce from their mother, Angelina Jolie. In the past year, Vivienne publicly dropped his name from her surname. Nonetheless, Pitt has sent a message to Knox and Vivienne, saying he would like “another chance” with them, the Daily Mail reported.
“Brad’s desperate to give it one final shot to get together with them and make amends, even though he knows the chance they’ll agree to spend time with him is remote to say the least,” a source told the Daily Mail.
“So far there’s been no word back from the twins or their reps,” the source also said.
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 27: (L to R) Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Jolie-Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Knox Jolie-Pitt attend the “Eternals” UK Premiere at the BFI IMAX Waterloo on October 27, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)
Yes, Knox and Vivienne have “reps.” But that matter aside, a Daily Mail report from last month said that Pitt still holds out hope for a reconciliation with at least some of his children, but has resigned himself to never having a relationship with his two oldest sons, Maddox, 23, and Pax, 21. Both young men were initially adopted from Jolie from Cambodia and Vietnam, respectively.
Pitt’s estrangement from his children stems from an infamous September 2016 private plane ride from Europe when an allegedly drunk Pitt became angry and physical with Jolie, Maddox and some of the other children. That altercation prompted Jolie to file for divorce and led to Pitt being investigated by the FBI and Child Protective Services. Pitt denied ever being abusive to his children, and no criminal charges were ever filed. But a years-long custody dispute followed, which ultimately resulted in Pitt losing shared custody of the children.
Pitt reportedly enjoyed supervised visitation with his children early on, but as the children grew up they appeared to distance themselves from him. Initially, it was reported that Maddox had stopped speaking to Pitt. In 2023, the Daily Mail revealed that Pax, as a 16-year-old, had slammed Pitt on his private Instagram, calling his adopted father “an awful human being” after the actor won an Academy Award for his performance in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.” Pax also called his father “a terrible and despicable person” who makes the youngest of his six children “tremble with fear.”
It was reported last summer that Pitt also has “virtually no contact” with his oldest daughter, Zahara, 20, whom Jolie initially adopted from Ethiopia. She’s now a student at Spelman College, a historically Black women’s liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia.
Then there are Jolie and Pitt’s three biological children. Last summer, Shiloh, 19, hired an attorney to file a legal petition to formally drop Pitt’s last name from her own so that she would henceforth be known as Shiloh Jolie, instead of Shiloh Jolie-Pitt Shiloh. Shiloh’s decision to drop Pitt’s last name reportedly left him “blindsided” and “heartbroken” because they had once enjoyed a close relationship.
Vivienne also has publicly used the surname Jolie, as she revealed when she was credited as “Vivienne Jolie” in the May 2024 Playbill for “The Outsiders,” a Broadway show that she helped her mother produce and which is based on the classic S.E. Hinton teen novel.
Pitt also was left “totally devastated” when Vivienne stopped using his last name, the Daily Mail source said. “When Vivienne dropped Pitt from her name, he got the message loud and clear,” the source added.
But there’s a “glimmer of hope” for Pitt in Knox’s decision to keep Jolie-Pitt as his surname, the Daily Mail said.
A second source told the Daily Mail that Pitt has “accepted” that he and Jolie will always be “at odds,” but he still holds out hope that he will one day have a relationship with at least some of his children.
“Brad is a family man,” this second insider said. “When it comes to their children, he will always want to be an anchor in their lives.”
During his recent promotional efforts for “F1,” Pitt has once again opened up about going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to help him with his recovery from the alcohol abuse that was reportedly at the center of his conflicts with Jolie.
But if Pitt is truly serious about reconciling with his children, he may not be helping his cause with his ongoing legal battle with their mother over the fate of their French winery, Château Miraval.
The ex-spouses purchased the winery together when their relationship was going strong. They also tied the knot there in 2014 in a small, intimate ceremony with their children rooting for the marriage. But when they split two years later, Jolie sold her half of the winery to the Stoli Group, the multinational alcohol producer that also makes its signature vodka, as well as a brand of Kentucky bourbon.
Pitt has argued that he and Jolie had an agreement that she would sell her share to him and claims her decision to sell to the Stoli Group was a “vindictive” move to get back at him, Page Six reported. In preparation for the trial, Pitt this week filed a motion to gain access to Jolie’s private messages with a member of the Stoli Group team involved in the sale.