A new report in the Daily Mail contends that the actor has long had “no communication” with Knox after his bitter, eight-years-long divorce battle with Angelina Jolie. The report said that Brad Pitt, 60, only ever sees Knox and his other children when they walk a red carpet with their mother at some entertainment industry event.
Angelina, 46, has in fact been “trying to get under (Pitt’s) skin” with these high-profile outings with their children in recent years, a Brad “insider” told the Daily Mail.
This report comes after a tuxedo-clad Knox made a rare public appearance on Sunday, walking arm in arm with his glamorous mother at the Governors Award for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Angelina certainly has a reason for hitting red carpets in recent months. She’s promoting her new Maria Callas biopic, Maria, and she’s clearly campaigning to be nominated for a best actress Oscar for her performance as the legendary opera singer.
Maria has given the actor and director her first chance to be considered for an acting prize in more than a decade. (Angelina is a previous Oscar winner, for best supporting actress for the 1999 film Girl, Interrupted.) She turned up on the red carpet in September at the New York Film Festival — accompanied by her three older children, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, and Maddox, 22.
But to Brad’s associates, the timing of Knox’s appearance with his mother at Sunday’s event was especially “suspicious” in light of the latest turn in the couple’s long-running divorce battle. These insiders believe there was more going on than a devoted son simply turning up to support his mother
They argue that Angelina has been looking to aggravate her ex-husband, as the former super Hollywood super couple have another court fight coming up. Next year, Angelina and Brad face off in a trial over the disputed sale of their French winery, Chateau Miraval — in what’s become known as the “War of the Rosé.”
More from CafeMom: Angelina Jolie & Son Knox Walk Red Carpet Together at 2024 Governors Awards
Brad only sees his children while they're walking the red carpet.
“Brad only gets to see his children when they walk on the carpet with their mom and the timing of this could not be any more suspicious considering it was just decided that he and Angie are headed to trial,” the Brad insider told the Daily Mail.
Brad is suing Angelina over her effort to sell her $62 million stake in the winery and estate to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler. Brad has argued that her sale to Shefler violated a verbal agreement they had, which was to give him the right of first refusal if she sought to sell her half of the estate, which produces award-winning rosé.
The couple purchased the picturesque estate in the South of France together in 2007. With its historic stone buildings, olive groves and private lake, they reportedly hoped to make it a European base for their family, a retreat from the “celebrity of Hollywood.”
Angelina recently lost a motion to dismiss Brad’s lawsuit, with a judge saying that the case would proceed to trial. But if Angelina is trying to get back at Brad after his recent court win, “using Knox to do so is odd,” the insider told the Daily Mail.
“Knox wants nothing to do with Hollywood and has no communication with Brad,” the insider said.
But the insider also argued that Angelina’s appearance with Knox is more evidence Angelina has fully 'turned' their children against him.
Angelina has long been accused of trying to drive a wedge between Brad and their children in the aftermath of their split.
“She did this while they were all young and they didn’t even get a chance to make up their minds about him,” the insider said. “He believes that, in time, his children will come back into his life.”
Angelina and Brad have been locked in one of Hollywood’s longest-running and most contentious divorce battles. Angelina filed for divorce in September 2016, alleging that a heavily intoxicated Brad was verbally and physically abusive to her and several of their children on a private plane trip to the United States from France. The family had been vacationing at Chateau Miraval prior to boarding the plane.
The alleged abuse was graphically detailed in an FBI report that became public in 2022. Brad has never directly addressed the abuse allegations, but sources close to him have denied them on his behalf. He also was never criminally charged in federal or state court.
Still, the abuse allegations have reportedly contributed to the actor’s estrangement from at least several of his children.
Shiloh has changed her name.
In late August, Brad’s second oldest daughter, 18-year-old Shiloh, received news that a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge had granted her legal petition to officially drop her father’s last name. This news came around the same time that Brad was trying to promote his own new movie, Wolfs, co-starring his long-time friend and collaborator George Clooney.
When Brad learned in May that Shiloh had filed the petition to change her last name, he was said to be “blindsided” and “upset” by her choice, People magazine reported. “He’s never felt more joy than when she was born. He always wanted a daughter,” a source told People.
Brad’s other daughters, Zahara and Vivienne, Knox’s twin sister, also have stopped using their father’s name in public settings. Indeed, Angelina made a red carpet appearance with Vivienne in June, when mother and daughter attended the 77th annual Tony Awards in New York City.
Meanwhile, Brad has “virtually no contact” with his two older adult children, Maddox, 22, and Pax, 20, People magazine reported in July.
Now, a source close to Angelina told the Daily Mail that Knox was happy to accompany his mother at the Governors Award this weekend. But the source insisted that his attendance had nothing to do with an effort to “get under” Brad’s skin.
“Knox chose to attend the awards with his mom, and they had a nice mother-son evening,” the Angelina insider told the Daily Mail. “Their decision to attend together did not have anything to do with Brad.”
–Martha Ross, The Mercury News (TNS)
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