Brad Pitt Has 'No Contact' With Older Children and 'Limited' Access to the Younger Ones

Following a bifurcated ruling in 2019, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were deemed legally single. It allows them to remarry— should they find partners— while still battling over their shared assets, child custody, and other divorce-related issues. The ex-couple, who share six children (Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 15) have yet to commit to a balanced custody arrangement. According to People, a close source revealed, "He has virtually no contact with the adult kids. His engagement with the younger kids is more limited in recent months because of his filming schedule."

Pitt is presently filming a racing film, F1, in Europe. "Angelina has the kids most of the time, but per their agreement, he has visitation with the younger kids," the insider detailed. Interestingly, Shiloh filed to drop her surname 'Pitt' the day she turned 18, wishing to go by 'Shiloh Jolie' instead. “He’s aware and upset that Shiloh dropped his last name," a source close to the Oceans Eleven actor said in June. "The reminders that he has lost his children, is of course not easy for Brad. He loves his children and misses them. It’s very sad."

“He still loves all of his kids tremendously,” another source close to Pitt said. “This whole process has been very hard for the whole family." The couple's youngest daughter is also named 'Vivienne Jolie' on the playbill for the new musical The Outsiders, which she co-produced with her mother. It remains yet to be known if the teen has also legally changed her name. According to The UK Mirror, the couple's older daughter, Zahara, also renounced her father's last name. When she was initiated into the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Spelman College last year, she identified herself as 'Zahara Marley Jolie' in a video that went viral.

According to InTouch Weekly, a source shared that "Angelina still exerts a lot of control over Brad. There is no doubt Ines de Ramon (Pitt's girlfriend) wants to meet the children, but she knows Brad has to do whatever it takes to see them without trouble from Angelina.” Another insider shared, "Brad cherishes time with his kids and loves seeing them when he can...when he is in town, once or twice a week...It’s definitely something he prioritizes.” 

The high-profile divorce was prompted by a 2016 incident when during a private flight journey, Pitt allegedly got into a physical altercation with their eldest son, Maddox, who was 15 at the time. Maddox also tried to defend his mother during the heated argument when Pitt, who had allegedly been drinking, ‘lunged’ at his son. A source close to Pitt shared, “[Brad] was drunk and there was an argument between him and Angelina. There was a parent-child argument that was not handled the right way and escalated more than it should have.” Jolie filed for divorce the next day.