Ten years ago, Brad Pitt tore his family apart, losing Angelina Jolie and (ultimately) his children forever.
What has followed included a divorce that outlasted the marriage and even more legal battles. Oh, and Pitt is drinking again.
Even with a decade of smears, child after child has reached adulthood and legally excised “Pitt” from their names.
What happened? Where do things stand today?
What happened between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on September 14, 2016?
Though Angelina Jolie has never publicly voiced the allegations against Brad Pitt (more on that later), transcripts from legal proceedings have painted a hauntingly clear description of that fateful family flight.
To be blunt, it sounds like a psychological horror film — one family trapped on a plane with a violently drunk man who caused documented damage to the plane in his alleged rampage.
Pitt allegedly attacked Jolie, grabbing and shaking her, which she tried to conceal from her children. When some of the children attempted to interfere, Pitt allegedly strangled one and hit another in the face.
Even if the actor was drunk (“blackout drunk,” some believe), that would not excuse any of this monstrous behavior or meaningfully change anything about his moral culpability.
It’s not easy listening (even some who have followed this story closely for years may find themselves in tears), but we recommend listening to this rundown on the Jolie-Pitt divorce, the smear campaign against Jolie, including numerous details about the alleged 2016 assaults.
The kids have been ditching his surname left and right
In addition to the PR machine churning out nonsensical stories engineered to make Pitt appear sympathetic, another recurring story kept the Jolie-Pitt divorce in headlines.
One after another, as the Jolie-Pitt children entered adulthood, they became the Jolie children.
Some only dropped “Pitt” informally, while some also filed the legal documentation for a name-change. The latter requires taking out an add to announce this change, an antiquated law that critics argue violates privacy and endangers certain individuals.
Famously, Shiloh chose the day of her 18th birthday to file for a name change. This may have stemmed from a number of bogus stories claiming that she was a “daddy’s girl” who wished that her parents hadn’t divorced.
Reports claiming to originate with the Pitt camp have claimed that all of this is due to “parental alienation.” Parental alienation is a poor term at best and a junk science concept invented to obscure child-abuse at worse. If there was triangulation (an actual psychological term, in real life) in this divorce, there is no evidence of it.
🇺🇦🍉 Angelina Jolie in Kherson
— MAKS 26 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) November 5, 2025 at 9:48 AM
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Why hasn’t Angelina Jolie ever publicly detailed the Brad Pitt allegations?
Some have asked why Angelina Jolie has never publicly detailed the domestic abuse allegations against Brad Pitt.
(What we know about the case primarily stems from courtroom testimony and related documents.)
However, the world has seen powerful men use defamation suits to silence women or ruin their lives (even more) when they have committed no libel, when they have chosen their words with care and conviction.
In 2022, Johnny Depp won a defamation suit against ex-wife Amber Heard over an article in which she did not even name him.
Even more recently, Justin Baldoni filed a $400 million defamation suit over reporting on his dispute with Blake Lively. That, at least, was less successful, though reality has not stopped him from taking a victory lap as if the courts had vindicated him.
He’s drinking again but seems to believe that this is fine
Brad Pitt has recently admitted that he is no longer sober — that he has not been sober for years, in fact.
As sad as it is for someone to destroy their family, it makes the situation even more tragic when that person doesn’t seem to learn anything from it.
And, if one chooses to feel some sort of sympathy toward Pitt for some reason, it might make one worry about his future well being.
Countless comments sections are filled with people urging, pleading with Pitt to not believe that he can control how much he drinks. These individuals appear to be speaking from experience.
At least the custody war is over. Angelina Jolie no longer has to remain tethered to a home conveniently close to her ex.
And the adult Jolie children (that’s all of them) only have to see Pitt if they choose to — or, unfortunately, when they watch film trailers or awards shows or look at certain magazines. (When is this “cancel culture” stuff supposed to kick in, exactly?)
