The vituperous divorce of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt has been grist to the mill of gossip pages and supermarket tabloids in the two years since they split.
There have been allegations of drinking, drug use, violent temper tantrums, and vindictive legal attacks.
And despite several attempts at declaring a ceasefire, the battle has continued to rage—just last month the two were involved in a bitter war of words about Brad’s financial contribution to the family, with Jolie accusing him of being a deadbeat dad who was shirking on his commitments and Pitt arguing he had contributed around $8 million to the family funds, which Jolie said was just a loan.
ADVERTISEMENT
Now, the couple is reportedly making a fresh effort to restore civility to their dealings, with reports of a secret meeting between the two at her house to try and hash out a way forward, after Jolie became aware that her approach was damaging her children.
A source told ET: “Angelina loves her kids very much and it seems like she felt threatened she might lose time with them and, in turn, she went on the attack. Unfortunately, everyone in the family has suffered. She started to see a change in the kids’ behavior because they missed their dad.”
ET reports that the parlay was a success: “Brad and Angelina actually set up a secret meeting at her house. It’s the first time they have truly gotten together to make things work since their group therapy with the children.
“Angelina decided it was time to try to make things work and Brad was relieved and very ready for the offer.
“Brad has been dedicated to making peace throughout the process and now it finally seems like they are at a point where they can create a calmer situation for the kids.
“Angelina created a very difficult situation for Brad and the children and she has finally realized her behavior backfired,” ET’s source says.
The meeting looks like an attempt to put the trainwreck relationship back on track after a major blowup in August, when Jolie filed papers accusing Pitt of not paying any “meaningful” child support.
Pitt was said to be “sickened” by Jolie’s move, and his side briefed that he had loaned Jolie millions of dollars to tide the family over while the divorce agreement was being thrashed out.
Prior to that, Jolie was warned by the court not to trash Pitt to the kids.
Jolie is required to tell their children that the “court has determined that not having a relationship with their father is harmful to them,” that they are “safe with their father,” and that having a healthy relationship with both parents is “critical.”
In one particularly nasty filing, Angelina alleged that Brad had gone on the attack because he was “terrified that the public will learn the truth,” and was trying to “deflect from [his] own role in the media storm that has engulfed the parties’ children.”
Last May, Pitt broke his silence on their split and custody battle to GQ saying: “No one wins in court, it’s just a matter of who gets hurt worse… it’s just an investment in vitriolic hatred.”
The former megastar couple share six children: Maddox, 17, Pax, 14, Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 12, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 10.
Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, after an alleged fracas on a private jet; she wants primary custody of their brood, while Brad is fighting for joint custody.
