The parents of Brad Pitt haven’t seen his kids much in years, according to insiders.
But these same reports emphasize that this isn’t the doing of Angelina Jolie.
Brad and Angelina’s kids have, one by one, been making their feelings clear in the years since their parents split.
What’s (allegedly) keeping them from their paternal grandparents?
Brad Pitt’s six kids haven’t seen much of his parents lately
According to an inside source, People reports, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s kids haven’t been spending much time with their paternal grandparents.
And it’s been like this for more than five years.
The insider detailed that this lack of “extensive time” isn’t limited to the grandparents. Apparently there’s only a little contact with cousins and other relatives on the Pitt side of the family.
Maddox is 23. Pax is 20. Zahara is 19. Shiloh just turned 18 earlier this year. The twins, Knox and Vivienne, are both 16.
In 2016, Angelina Jolie filed to divorce Brad Pitt following a fateful flight during which he allegedly violently attacked her and some of their children.
The exes have waged a bitter battle. Most of that has taken in place in court, first in divorce court and now over this inexorable lawsuit that Pitt filed over a french winery. Pitt has also seemingly waged a PR war in an effort to make himself appear somehow sympathetic or even the “victim” in all of this.
Another inside source responded, telling People that “Angelina has not blocked any communications or relationships.”
The second insider, one in Jolie’s camp, continued: “Rather she encourages them to be in touch with their grandparents.”
This second source also detailed: “The kids send cards and gifts to their grandparents every year for their birthdays and Christmas.”
Almost all of the Jolie kids (most of whom have taken steps to distance themselves from their father, including dropping his surname) are young adults.
Generally speaking, this is a time when people are less likely to be in regular contact with relatives. In a typical household, your parent might put you on the phone with a grandparent or cousin to chat.
Without that hand-holding, a college student might be way, way too busy to think about most relatives until they’re a little older and wiser. It’s normal. But most college students don’t end up with
Could this distance be more personal?
Obviously, none of us know what’s going on in the hearts and minds of each and every member of Brad Pitt’s extended family or Angelina Jolie’s kids. But … bitter divorces can separate more than just a marriage. Especially when one spouse is accused of abuse.
Some grandparents will side with their grandchildren in these situations, even if they have gone no-contact with their own child. Other grandparents (and other relatives) may cut ties with their own grandkids out of misplaced loyalty. It’s painful.
Sometimes, one bad relative can ruin a whole family because they’re not “sold separately.”
One can only imagine how much more awkward all of this becomes in celebrity families. But it’s hard to imagine Angelina trying to get her kids to ghost their grandparents when she keeps them in touch with her own awful dad.