It’s hard to believe that next month marks 10 years since the couple formerly known as Brangelina dramatically split – sparking an almost-decade long war of mud-slinging and bitter estrangement.
For Brad Pitt, it’s undoubtedly a poignant anniversary, as it serves to remind him, once again, of just how much he’s lost. After all, since he and Angelina Jolie broke up in September 2016, he’s slowly but surely watched his relationship with each of their six children go from fractured to totally decimated.
Indeed, last month was – ostensibly – the final nail in the coffin as their youngest children, Vivienne and Knox, turned 18, meaning Brad no longer has any legal rights to see his kids. Crystallising their estrangement, Vivienne marked the milestone by filing a legal petition to drop ‘Pitt’ from her surname, following in the footsteps of her three older siblings, Maddox, 24, Zahara, 21, and Shiloh, 20, who have all officially taken legal steps to nominally separate themselves from their father.
As it stands, Vivienne’s twin brother Knox hasn’t gone down the same legal route. However, he did list himself as ‘Knox Jolie’ during his recent graduation, suggesting he’s just as keen to turn his back on Brad – which just leaves Pax, 22, as the only Brangelina child to have yet to publicly drop the name ‘Pitt’.
And it’s for this reason, we’re told, that Pax is now standing solo as Brad’s last shred of hope when it comes to reconciling with his long-lost family. There’s just one glaring issue…Pax may still be a ‘Pitt’ in name, but he’s also the only one who has spoken out publicly, loudly and aggressively against his dad in the past, infamously slamming him in an Instagram message in 2020 as a ‘world class asshole’ and adding, ‘You time and time again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person’.
Still, insiders tell us that Brad’s hoping Pax’s anger is buried in the past – and the fact that he’s yet to drop his paternal surname, and also remains in contact with the actor’s side of the family, suggests he might just be willing to hear his dad out.
‘Brad is absolutely clinging to every positive that he possibly can at this point,’ says an insider close to the 62 year old, who has not been pictured publicly with any of his children since splitting from Angelina. ‘He’s putting a lot of hope into the fact that Pax hasn’t gone and changed his name the way the rest of his kids have. And Pax is still friendly with his side of the family – that’s something that Brad is very encouraged by, and he’s saying that it shows the door is still open. His hope is that, once things get back on track with Pax, that can then be something of a doorway to the rest of his kids. He has not given up hope of having them all back in his life and says he will never give up.’
According to reports, Pax has always maintained a strong connection to Brad’s relatives, particularly the actor’s sister, Julie Pitt Neal, and his brother, Doug Pitt. He even reportedly attended a recent family dinner to celebrate Julie’s daughter Sydney’s engagement – an event that, crucially, Brad did not intend. Yet sources have insisted that, despite Pax’s closeness to the Pitts, he ‘doesn’t have much of a relationship with Brad’.
Meanwhile, the duo’s troubled relationship was put on full display in 2023, when Pax’s historical Instagram rant went public. Originally posted on Father’s Day 2020, the then 16 year old bitterly lashed out at his estranged dad on his private account, not only calling him a ‘world class asshole’ but saying that he had made his youngest children ‘tremble in fear’. He added that Brad had ‘no consideration or empathy’.
Brad never publicly responded but, over the years, he’s reportedly been worried about Pax, as the latter has shown some reckless tendencies. Those included getting into two e-bike accidents in just six months – the worst of which happened in July 2024, when he reportedly suffered ‘complex trauma’ after colliding with a car. Two months later, he walked the red carpet with Angelina at the Toronto International Film Festival with noticeable scars across his forehead, while still wearing an arm cast – which showed a worried Brad, and the world, just how serious the accident had been.
Brad himself has been open about his reckless nature and need for speed. Having long driven motorbikes and raced cars, we’re told that he relates to Pax, and wants to teach him how to be safe. In fact, he’s now hoping that he can do just that, and they can find their common ground, before they lose all connection for good.
‘Brad was really scared when Pax had that horrible crash a couple of years ago,’ our source reveals. ‘He still cares about him and loves him, so of course it was very distressing. He was so relieved that Pax ended up relatively unscathed, but of course it was very difficult to feel like he wasn’t even welcome to go see him.
‘In a lot of ways, they are very similar. Pax is undoubtedly the wild child of the family, which naturally Brad can relate to. As far as he’s concerned, it’s only a matter of time before they find their way back to each other.’
Despite Pax’s historical online rant against his dad, he might just be Brad’s best hope moving forwards, considering his siblings’ public displays of antipathy. Who knows how any one of them will feel next month, as they mark the 10-year anniversary of that fateful day in September 2016 when ‘a private plane altercation’ ended the Brangelina fairy tale?
All these years later, we still have little solid detail of the event, aside from allegations that Brad turned abusive to both Angelina and the children. Following the incident, authorities investigated Brad; and while he was later cleared of all allegations, he’s since said his heavy boozing, which he’s given up, had a negative effect on his family life.
Now, as Brad surveys the 10-year wreckage of all that he’s lost, the big question is: will Pax be willing to help him mend the family’s wounds? Or will his devotion to mum Angelina – like the rest of his siblings – thwart any kind of détente? Like always, it seems that all the actor can do is keep the door open, keep his fingers crossed, and wait.
