As Brad Pitt approaches his 61st birthday on Dec. 18, the Hollywood star is reportedly facing more personal challenges than celebrations. While he is doing well professionally, his family life remains in turmoil, with sources claiming the Oscar-winning actor has reached a point where he is now “begging” two of his six children to spend the day with him.
“Brad loves his kids, and it would mean the world to him to have them spend his special day with him,” an insider told Daily Mail after noting that the celebrity dad wants nothing more for his birthday than for his kids to spend time with him and his girlfriend, Ines de Ramon, 31.
Unfortunately, Pitt has to accept that it’s very unlikely for him to get his birthday wish, with the source saying, “But it is not looking so great so far. Some of the kids still talk to him, some do not. It is very tricky.”
Pitt shares six children with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, namely: Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and 16-year-old twins, Knox and Vivienne. Reports suggest his bond with most of them has significantly deteriorated amid his long-standing custody battle with the actress.
Maddox and Pax are said to have completely severed ties with their father, while Shiloh made headlines earlier this year for legally removing Pitt from her surname on her 18th birthday. Even Zahara no longer uses her father’s last name, although she hasn’t made a legal change. Meanwhile, Knox and Vivienne are believed to maintain occasional contact, though they haven’t been publicly seen with their dad in years.
Despite living just miles apart in Los Angeles, Pitt and his children have not reconnected for years. Thus, multiple sources have claimed that the actor is estranged from his kids. And now as his milestone birthday draws near, the emotional toll of his fractured relationship with them looms large. If his children choose not to spend the day with him, sources said he will escape on a trip with de Ramon, whom he has been dating since 2022. But it would mean the world to him if they could spend time with him.
“Brad is missing his kids and wishes he had a closer relationship with them, particularly with celebrating the holidays and his birthday this month,” one insider told Page Six, noting that Christmas “won’t be the same” for the actor unless he gets to be with them.
Another source claimed that Pitt is deeply hurt by his present situation with his children because they used to be so close to each other, and he blames Jolie for this. “They used to have a good relationship, but that’s in the past, and it breaks his heart. Brad feels like Angelina has turned his kids against him,” the source said.
This strain reportedly deepened last month when Jolie and Knox attended the 2024 Governors Awards together — a move Pitt allegedly saw as a calculated gesture to push his buttons. “Brad finds it a bit coincidental that a judge signed off on the [Château Miraval] trial just days before Knox joined Angelina at the Governors Awards,” a different insider claimed.
Seemingly adding insult to injury, Jolie hasn’t stopped talking about motherhood and her children in her promotional interviews for her new film, Maria, set to premiere on Netflix on Dec. 11 following its limited U.S. theatrical release. Her latest interview saw the celebrity mom confirming that she’s done her best to hide her vulnerable side from her children despite what she went through with her ex-husband.