Photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s children enjoying quality time with his family show how close they were before the couple’s bitter divorce led to a nearly decade-long lack of contact.
Brad, 60, has been estranged from his daughter Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 16, as well as his three adopted children Maddox, 23, Pax, 20, and Zahara, 19, since an explosive fight on their private jet in early 2016 Angelina, 49, is filing for divorce.
The estrangement has not only crushed the actor, but also his parents William and Jane Pitt, who have desperately tried to maintain a relationship over the years and have sent birthday and Christmas cards to no avail.
Now insiders have shed light on how the lack of contact was felt by members of Brad’s wider family, including his cousins, who are also mourning the close bond they once shared with their cousins.
“When it happened to Brad, his family was hyper-focused on him getting help for his alcoholism,” an insider told DailyMail.com.
‘The Pitt’s did their best to keep in touch with the children, but some members of his family struggled to manage their frustration over the fallout and as a result, Angelina cut the children off.
Brad Pitt’s family, including his parents, siblings, cousins, mourn the close bond they once shared with his children (pictured with his parents and Angelina Jolie)
Photos of twins Knox and Vivienne, now 16, with Brad’s niece Sydney (above) show just how close the cousins were before the couple’s bitter divorce tore them apart
‘The children were young, so all contact had to go through their mother. And now, almost nine years later, they are not in a relationship.”
Shortly after their divorce, Brad admitted he had a drinking problem and entered therapy, spending a year and a half in Alcoholics Anonymous.
He then publicly thanked friend Bradley Cooper in 2020 for helping him get sober.
For William, aka Bill, 83, and Jane, 84, all their attempts to maintain a relationship with their beloved grandchildren have been in vain so far.
“His parents still send cards at Christmas and for birthdays, even though they don’t get a response,” the insider continues.
Bill and Jane, who were incredibly fond of Brad’s first wife, Jennifer Aniston, are also parents to Doug Pitt and Julie Neal, whose children are close to them.
Doug has Sydney, Landon and Regan with wife Lisa, while Julie is mother to Caleb, twin daughters Josie and Rylie, as well as adopted sons Caden and Cruz, whom she shares with husband Scott Neal.
The close-knit family regularly share photos with their cousins and grandparents on Instagram, with Brad’s children regularly appearing in previous posts – something that stopped after his divorce from Angelina.
Brad’s niece Sydney seemed to express her sadness over the lack of contact with her cousins in February 2017 when she shared a photo of Knox and Vivienne in Santa Barbara, writing, “Missing my babies and this place a little more than usual today.” ‘
A source said: ‘It was so important to Brad that the kids knew their cousins, especially now that Angelina is estranged from her dad and brother’ (Vivienne pictured with her cousin Sydney)
Sydney shared a photo of the twins in February 2017, five months after the plane incident, and told her followers she missed them (pictured)
Revealing just how close the family had once been, the source added, “They went to Missouri several times a year for family gatherings and spent weeks together in the summer at Brad’s house in California.
“It was so important to Brad that the children knew their cousins, especially now that Angelina is estranged from her father and brother.”
Footage captured over the years shows the children spending time with their cousins at Brad’s $20 million oceanfront estate during family vacations.
They then experienced new sorrow Zahara dropped ‘Pitt’ from her last name in November 2023 Vivienne followed suit in June this year. Shiloh joined them in August when she paid for her own lawyer to officially dump Pitt.’
“The Pitt family is close-knit and wears their last name like a badge of honor,” the source explains. “The fact that some of Brad’s kids have chosen to drop this is mind-boggling. The family can’t understand it.’
They added, “Granted, Shi showed solidarity with her mother, but it was made clear where she stands.”
But despite this, the family will “continue to keep their doors open” and are hopeful that “some children will see the importance of family as they get older and reach out.”
Brad shares daughter Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 16, as well as three adopted children Maddox, 23, Pax, 20, and Zahara, 19, with the actress
The close-knit family regularly shares photos with their cousins and grandparents on Instagram, but has not posted photos with Brad’s children since 2016
The Pitt family pictured with Angelina and the children at a gathering several years before their break-up
A source close to Angelina said: ‘She has not blocked communication in any way. The children send Christmas and birthday presents to their grandparents, they have seen them and been in touch.”
Bill and Jane were last photographed in public with their grandchildren at the premiere of Angelina’s film Unbroken in 2014.
Brad took the kids and his parents to the Hollywood premiere in place of the actress, who had contracted a case of chickenpox.
Jane had nothing but praise for Angelina at the time, telling reporters, “We are so very proud of Angie. This means so much to our family and especially to our grandchildren. We love her dearly.’
Angelina had spoken fondly of Brad’s parents in the past for accepting her adopted children.
“When I first met them, I came in with two adopted children from other countries and I didn’t know how they would do,” she said. “But they are just as loving with them.”
In 2016 the The rogue actress had filed for divorce after just two years of marriage and family relations had seemingly broken down.
Three years later, in 2019, Brad and Angelina were declared legally single. However, the stars are still locked in an ongoing battle over their Chateau Miraval estate.
The source added, “They went to Missouri several times a year for family gatherings and spent weeks together in the summer at Brad’s house in California.”
The couple’s youngest children, twins Knox and Vivienne, have recently been attending industry events with their mother, with the latter dropping ‘Pitt’ from her surname
Brad’s relationship with his children has deteriorated so much that he has “virtually no contact” with the eldest three.
The actress is accused of deliberately trying to drive a wedge between Brad and their six children over the years.
After walking arm-in-arm with Knox at the Governors Awards on Monday, a source told DailyMail.com that Brad feels she has turned the brood against him.
“Of course it bothers him that Angelina turned them against him,” they said. “She did this when they were all young and they didn’t even get a chance to make a decision about him.
“He believes that in time his children will come back into his life.”
In May, former British SAS soldier Tony Webb, who worked for the family for more than 20 years from 2000, claimed his colleague told him he heard Angelina “encouraging the children not to spend time with Pitt during custody visits.”
Court filings filed in LA Superior Court detailing the explosive claims were made public as part of the ongoing ‘War of the Roses’, with the A-List couple locked in a battle over her rights to sell their French vineyard .
The former power couple – who married in 2014 at the estate in Provence, southern France – will appear in court next year.