Taking the high road. Brad Pitt still wants ex-wife Angelina Jolie to be “happy” amid their winery drama, a source exclusively reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly.
“He’s not rooting against her, not personally, not professionally, not romantically,” the insider says. “If she’s happy, he’s happy. Brad loved Angelina and he still cares about her.”
The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star, 58, is “consistent” in the fact that he wants the Maleficent actress, 47, to be “happy and healthy and the best mother she can be for their children,” the source adds.
In fact, when Jolie was going through her “medical issues and surgeries, she routinely praised Brad for being supportive,” the insider points out, adding, “He was there with her through everything.”
In recent years, however, the twosome have butted heads on a variety of issues, including custody over their children and selling their Château Miraval winery. Jolie sold her stake in the company in October 2021, which Pitt later alleged in a lawsuit was done without his knowledge or consent.
“Brad always dreamed of leaving Miraval to the children as part of the family legacy,” the insider tells Us, noting that his family has remained a top priority since his and Jolie’s September 2016 split.
The exes, who were declared legally single in April 2019, share six kids: Maddox, 21, Pax, 18, Zahara, 17, Shiloh, 16, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 14. Their battle for custody over their youngest children, meanwhile, has yet to be decided.
Amid all of the drama with the Wanted actress, Pitt has chosen “to keep his children’s lives as private as he can,” per the source.
The Oklahoma native’s efforts to stay in contact with the kids, however, haven’t eased his tension with the Unbroken director.
“Angelina is angry that the public adores Brad so much when she feels he was very unkind to her,” the insider explains, pointing out that Pitt, meanwhile, has been “open and honest about his journey.”
Earlier this month, Jolie made headlines when news broke alleging that she was a plaintiff in an anonymous lawsuit filed against the FBI over its investigation of Pitt. Jolie allegedly had filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in March regarding the 2016 plane incident that played a part in her split from Pitt, according to Puck. In court documents obtained by Us, “Jane Doe” claimed she’d been “seeking the withheld information for … years in an effort to ensure that her children receive” the “care” and “counseling” they need to “address harm suffered.”
The complaint also described the requestor as “a victim of the assault herself,” and alleged that the FBI “has hampered, and continues to hamper, her efforts to obtain for her children necessary ongoing care and medical attention and has further harmed the children in the family law system.” (Us has reached out to reps for Pitt and Jolie.)
An insider told Us earlier this month, however, that Jolie already has the information that is being requested in the lawsuit. The lawsuit focuses on when Pitt was investigated in September 2016 for child abuse following an alleged mishap on the family’s private jet. The Fight Club actor was cleared of child abuse allegations two months later by Los Angeles’ DCFS and the FBI later closed its investigations without pressing charges.
In the new complaint, Jane Doe alleged that she “was not informed of the FBI’s closure of the investigation” before it was publicly announced, nor was she told why the agency decided to close the case.
Through all the drama, the Bullet Train actor has remained open about his own downfalls, the initial source tells Us, saying, Pitt even opted to lay it “all out” in his August GQ cover story in which he detailed his past with alcohol, passion for acting and more. “[He] didn’t sugar coat anything,” the insider adds. “Brad is a work in progress, but he can be proud of the man he is today.”
For more on Pitt’s ups and downs with Jolie watch the exclusive video above — and pick up the latest issues of Us Weekly on newsstands now.
