The past two weeks have offered two stark, dueling images of Brad Pitt. The first portrays the 60-year-old Oscar winner as a still-dashing, still-cool movie star who thoughtfully reflects on aging, artistry, being famous and his place in the world. This view of Pitt comes courtesy of his good friends George and Amal Clooney and a flattering, high-profile interview in GQ magazine.
The second comes via his daughter Shiloh, who received news Monday that a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge had granted her legal petition to officially drop his last name. She’ll no longer be known as Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, but just as Shiloh Jolie, retaining the name of her mother, Angelina Jolie.
Only Shiloh can explain her relationship with her famous father and why she took this step to publicly distance herself from him. Her attorney told the Los Angeles Times last month that she is a young adult who “made an independent and significant decision following painful events.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 18: Shiloh Jolie-Pitt attends the Los Angeles premiere of MSNBC Films’ “Paper & Glue: A JR Project” at Museum Of Tolerance on November 18, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by JC Olivera/Getty Images)
These painful events have played out in a very public way over the past eight years and center on her parents’ bitter divorce and the domestic violence allegations first made against Pitt in 2016, stemming from an infamous private plane ride from France to Los Angeles. The alleged abuse on the plane prompted Jolie to file for divorce and was graphically detailed in a FBI report that became public in 2022. The allegations also reportedly contributed to the actor’s estrangement from most, if not all, of his six children.
Pitt has denied that he was ever abusive to Jolie or to his children. Still, it’s odd that even a brief mention of the domestic violence allegations — with Pitt’s denials — or the actor’s widely reported estrangement from his children, didn’t find their way into the lengthy GQ cover story.
“The press has never required Brad to address the abuse, let alone deny it, and the GQ article is just the latest example,” a source close to Jolie told this news organization. “The media and the authorities have made an exception for Brad, even at the expense of the health of the family.”
The GQ story ostensibly focuses on the actor and his friendship with Clooney, who co-stars with him in the new movie “Wolfs.” While the article also showcases the actors in a series of fashion shoots, looking handsome and stylish in designer clothes, it purports to be much more than a light entertainment puff piece. Told in a Q&A format, writer Zach Baron sometimes gets personal with Pitt, as if to suggest that this story will offer some deep truth about the actor’s character.
Notably, the interview also takes place at the Chateau Miraval winery in the South of France, which Pitt and Jolie purchased together as their “family home” in 2008 and which is now the source of another legal battle between the ex-spouses.
Indeed, Baron and GQ magazine appeared to have enjoyed extraordinary access to Pitt, a superstar who doesn’t give interviews often, as the writer said. During the interview, the writer sat for lunch with Pitt and George and Amal Clooney, on a terrace at the actor’s winery and estate, with the picturesque space featuring an outdoor kitchen and a view of the vineyard and a lake. “Pitt and Clooney — they are used to living like this. Surrounded by beauty. In majestic isolation,” the story said.
The story acknowledged the legal battle over the winery in a brief editor’s note. But that’s as far as GQ went in dealing with the family drama surrounding Pitt, even though this drama has been one of the leading entertainment news stories in recent years and a No. 1 issue in potentially shaping public perceptions about the actor.
During the interview, Pitt revealed that he will call and confide in Clooney “when things get bumpy.” At another point, the writer mentioned that he and Pitt did another interview in 2019, during which Pitt talked about “what it means to be a man, to be a father.”
But these references to “bumpy” times or to masculinity and fatherhood apparently didn’t lead to any follow-up questions about the domestic violence allegations or the meaning of fatherhood to Pitt, now that he’s reportedly estranged from his children. Maybe the writer felt intimidated asking a superstar like Pitt about such painful and personal topics, or maybe the writer was barred from asking such questions on condition of getting the interview. It’s also possible that Pitt is prevented from talking about his divorce or his relationship with his children by a private legal agreement, but GQ could at least acknowledge that in another editor’s note.
FILES – A picture taken 12 November 2006 shows US actors Angelina Jolie (L), daughter Zahara (2L), husband Brad Pitt (R) and son Maddox taking a stroll on the seafront promenade in Mumbai. British tabloid “Sun” reports in its edition from 15 November 2007 that Mentewab Dawit, biological mother of adopted Ethiopian child Zahara, claims back her two-years old daughter. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)
In any case, GQ’s failure to show that it even raised the issue with the actor has given ammunition to Pitt’s critics, online and elsewhere, who say that he tends to get away with a lot and is enabled by the entertainment media because he’s Brad Pitt and because he has famous, powerful friends like Clooney who will give him cover. The omission could also been seen as problematic in a post-#MeToo era. Moreover, the story was published in the same month that Blake Lively has faced fire for appearing to downplay the pain and trauma of domestic violence while promoting her new film, “It Ends With Us,” which tells the story of a woman who leaves a marriage to an abusive man.
While Pitt denied ever being abusive, he gave a series of high-profile interviews before and during his 2019-2020 Oscar campaign for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” that were clearly meant as damage control amid his ongoing divorce and custody battle with Jolie. He told another GQ writer 2017 that he stopped drinking after he was “boozing too much” while married to Jolie.
“Brad has owned everything he’s responsible for from day one — unlike the other side — but he’s not going to own anything he didn’t do,” Pitt’s attorney Anne Kiley said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times in 2022.
At the time, Jolie’s attorney Paul Murphy took issue with this statement from Pitt’s team, the Los Angeles Times said.
“The carefully worded statement from Brad Pitt’s divorce attorney, Ms. Kiley, clearly did not address any of the very serious accusations in our cross-complaint,” Murphy said. “Mr. Pitt has been accused of harming his children and he has not denied any of his specific abhorrent behavior. Instead, he is continuing his attempts to misinform and deflect, just like he has done for the last six years.”
Despite Pitt’s efforts, the domestic violence allegations have continued to follow him. They gained new urgency in 2022 when the FBI report, detailing Jolie’s allegations about Pitt’s behavior on the overnight plane ride, became public.
According to what Jolie told the FBI, Pitt was heavily intoxicated, became agitated, yelled at her and grabbed her by the head and shook her in front of their children, then ages 8 to 15. During the confrontation, Pitt allegedly called Jolie “crazy,” said she’s “ruining this family,” allegedly choked one of the children, struck another in the face and poured beer and wine over them.
Pitt was never charged in connection with the incident, either by the U.S. attorney’s office or by L.A. County authorities. Still, the release of the FBI report has been seen as problematic for the Oscar winning-actor, whose popularity has long rested on his good looks and his charming, affable public persona.
Actor Brad Pitt and children Pax Jolie-Pitt (hidden) and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt (front) arrive for the U.S. premiere of Universal Pictures “Unbroken,” December 15, 2014 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
Incidentally, the FBI report made its way into the public domain via the court battle over the winery. Jolie offered to sell her share of the winery to Pitt in 2021 but opted not to because he allegedly expected her to sign a nondisclosure agreement that would bar her from talking publicly about his conduct towards her and their children.
Pitt’s reputation also taken a hit from more recent reports about how his now-teen and adult children have become estranged from him, or that they have distanced themselves from him in other ways. People magazine reported in July that Pitt has “virtually no contact” with the couple’s three older adult children, Maddox, 22, Zahara, 19, and Pax, 20.
“The reminders that he’s lost his children, is of course not easy for Brad,” a source told People in June. “He loves his children and misses them. It’s very sad.”
In addition to Shiloh, Zahara and Vivienne, 16, also have stopped using their father’s name in public settings. When Pitt learned in May that Shiloh had filed the petition to change her name, Pitt was said to be “blindsided” and “upset” by her choice, People reported. “He’s never felt more joy than when she was born. He always wanted a daughter,” a source told People.
