In just a few weeks, Vivienne and Knox Jolie-Pitt will officially be adults.
But forget about streamers and cakes. The twins’ 18th birthday on July 12th marks the true end to the decade-long battle between their parents, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, as the couple known as “Brangelina” finally has a chance to come to an end once and for all.
The Hollywood icons have been battling in court since Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September 2016, after just two years of marriage, citing torture at the hands of the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actor.
For years, the pair have been embroiled in a long-running custody battle over their six children: Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins.
Upon their birthday, Vivian and Knox will no longer be obligated to their remaining custody agreement, which gave Pitt visitation rights to the minor children while Jolie was the primary custodian.
We hear that Pitt currently has a “very limited” relationship with his offspring, many of whom no longer use his last name, including Maddox, who this week filed a legal application to drop the name “Pitt”.
A source said it was “not surprising” that the news was announced on Thursday, hours after Page Six reported that Pitt had won a “significant evidence-based victory” in Pitt and Jolie’s ongoing battle over French vineyard Chateau Miraval.
“Angelina is keeping her children away from Brad,” the source said, especially “children she knew to be particularly close to him.”
Sources familiar with the situation insisted that Jolie never tried to separate her children from their father, and stressed that there is a problem with the word “alienated” being used to refer to children who have reportedly experienced such family drama.
Page Six has reached out to representatives for Pitt and Jolie.
Some within the former couple’s circle thought that despite the damaging allegations, Jolie initially believed that Pitt might beg her to take him back.
And when that didn’t happen, things turned explosive, a source said.
This was denied as “completely false” by an insider familiar with the situation.
Jolie, who will celebrate her 51st birthday on Thursday (April 2022), filed an anonymous lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act seeking the release of documents relating to an alleged domestic violence incident on a private jet from France to the United States in September 2016.
In court papers, Jolie claimed that her then-husband “allegedly physically and verbally assaulted” her and their children while on the plane, and that the children experienced “lasting physical and emotional trauma as a result of the assault.”
Pitt continues to deny all allegations of physical abuse by Jolie. Child Welfare Services cleared him of any wrongdoing at the time, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to press charges due to insufficient evidence.
In September 2024, Jolie officially dropped the lawsuit.
Pitt talked about how he used that moment to quit drinking. He has now been sober for nearly a decade with the help of a men-only AA group that includes Bradley Cooper, and he revealed on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard last June: “It’s been a tough time. I needed a reboot. I needed a fucking wake-up call in some areas.”
But that wasn’t enough to get some of his children back.
When daughter Zahara graduated from Atlanta, Georgia’s prestigious Spelman College with a bachelor’s degree in psychology earlier this month, she was announced at her graduation ceremony as “Zahara Marley Jolie.” Jolie attended the event with her sons Pax and Knox.
Zahara previously paid a heartfelt tribute to Jolie at a sorority brunch in April, describing their dynamic as a “unique, almost kindred spirit” and calling Jolie’s mother “the most selfless, loving, understanding woman.”
Pitt, who is currently in Ireland filming the psychological thriller The Riders, based on Tim Winton’s acclaimed novel, is believed to have been uninvited, but a source familiar with the situation said he may have just turned up.
“This is a celebration!” said a source at Zahara’s graduation, adding that the actor’s exclusion shows the “degree” of the impact. How many times can you kill a man?
“There was no reason this had to happen. There’s no benefit to the kids.”
Vivian unofficially dropped “Pitt” from her last name when she was credited with Playbill as a production assistant on the Broadway musical “The Outsiders” in 2024, and she can officially change her last name when she turns 18.
On his 18th birthday in 2024, Shiloh filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court to legally have Pitt removed.
Now known as Shiloh Nouvelle Jolie, she made a name for herself as a dancer after appearing in the video for K-pop star Dayoung’s hit song “What’s a Girl to Do” in April, and there are rumors of a romance with fellow dancer Keoni Rose.
Jolie spoke about her children at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February 2025. “They don’t really like the celebrity part of it all, especially Shiloh…” “I think in a very healthy way they don’t… It’s not normal.” It’s just so ridiculous. ”
Maddox, who studied abroad in her native North Korea, gave up her father’s last name in February to work as an assistant director on Jolie’s latest film, Couture. He previously used “Jolie-Pitt” when he was credited as an executive producer on the 2024 film Maria, which his mother directed, while his brother Pax worked as a production assistant.
It’s unclear if Pax uses Pitt’s name, but he called his father a “world-class a-hole” in a 2020 social media post.
Multiple sources have now told Page Six that the 2024 crash, in which Pax was involved in a serious crash on his e-bike in Los Angeles and spent several days in intensive care, was worse than originally reported and left him with extensive head trauma.
As for Knox, he was spotted in Los Angeles this week with bright red hair still fresh from a Muay Thai lesson. He has been studying martial arts for years and has also competed in championships.
“The children, who are now adults who can make their own decisions, have been affected not only by what happened on that plane 10 years ago, but also by what happened afterwards, as (Pitt) continued to cover up and trivialize his actions,” a family source said. “This affected his relationship with his children the most. When are people going to start asking real questions about what happened to their children?”
As Page Six previously reported, Pitt was awarded joint custody of the children in 2021. However, Jolie’s lawyers successfully argued to disbar John Ouderkirk, the private judge the couple hired to oversee their custody battle, because of his undisclosed business dealings with Pitt’s lawyers.
“The judge actually looked at the facts. The judge handed down a 168-page ruling awarding 50-50 custody of the children based on testimony from all sorts of people, including people who lived with the children and had regular contact with them, therapists, and the children themselves and their statements,” the source said.
“This was a fair conclusion. Both parents could be placed in a situation to raise the child, which was what was best for the child,” the source added, but procedural issues led to the “terrible” decision. “That event had an impact on the children because the chances of them experiencing something like that again are extremely low.”
In 2024, a source claimed to People that Pitt’s lawyer was using the dispute over the Chateau Miraval winery to “punish” her for breaking up with Pitt. Her lawyers argued that Ms. Pitt’s demands, including forcing her to hand over some of her private emails and forcing her to disclose past contracts, were abusive tactics aimed at prolonging the case, draining her resources and concealing her alleged misconduct.
In response, a Pitt official fired back, saying, “These are people who have amassed vast amounts of wealth by violating the agreement between the parties regarding the sale of the business.”
In May, Page Six reported that Jolie had won a major victory when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled not to force her to disclose private correspondence related to the sale of her shares in a French winery.
Pitt has been dating girlfriend Ines de Ramon since 2022, while Jolie is reported to only date singer The Weeknd and others.
She reportedly has plans to move away from Los Angeles now that her children are grown, and has put her sprawling Los Feliz home on the market for nearly $30 million. “The Eternals” star “didn’t want to live in L.A. full-time,” a source previously told People. “Because of her custody arrangement with Brad, she didn’t have a choice.”
The actress encourages all of her children to embrace their individuality to the fullest, a source told People magazine, adding that raising them and being a mother “makes her the happiest.”
“She is the type of mother who really wants to be there for life’s important moments, and her children love her,” the source added. “She is often told that she is the best mother and she sheds tears. Being a mother is very emotional for her. It makes her the happiest.”
Meanwhile, Pitt continues to face the reality of his strained relationship with his children. “No man or woman should have to go through something like this,” said a person familiar with the matter.
