[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Damn. We’ve heard some of this before. But in its entirety it really is a portrait of an abusive father. Even if it was just this one incident, if it went down like this, Brad Pitt should be begging the forgiveness of Angelina Jolie, their kids, and film audiences everywhere.
Yes, this is once again about the infamous plane incident.
As Perezcious readers know, the Hollywood power couple’s much-publicized love story crashed to the ground in a mid-air collision in 2016. On that September day Brad was allegedly physically and verbally abusive towards Angelina and their six children. The Fight Club star was never charged, but she never looked at him the same. Their marriage ended, and his kids have pretty much been done with him since. But what exactly happened?
OK, so basically ever since their divorce battle began, the couple have been in a protracted legal battle over a French vineyard they co-owned, Château Miraval. In their non-stop legal filings, pretty much all their dirty laundry has been aired. At one point that included a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in which Angie demanded the FBI‘s investigation documents. She claimed he should have been charged, but they decided not to — presumably because the case would be too high profile? And it was just easier not to get involved in a media circus? We’re not sure exactly why the Tomb Raider alum thinks they didn’t book him, but she has long tried to get it all out in the open. And this time she’s made her biggest leap forward…
Related: Why Brangelina’s Kids Don’t Want To Be Nepo Baby Movie Stars!
See, Brad has always denied any abuse. But if he ever admitted to it, that’s going to have to come out. Angie’s legal team demanded he release to her any “private, third-party communications” made in the months following the incident. And now the judge in the case has now ruled he has to! The ruling was apparently made on November 25 by Judge Lia Martin, but it was just made public on Monday. The goal is to find proof he tried to get her to sign an NDA to keep silent about the abuse. But anything he said about the abuse in texts and emails to anyone? The allegations may have been out there for some time… but more proof than ever may be coming.
What are we talking about? What could be confirmed? Here’s the whole story, as much as we’ve seen come out publicly…
Most of this information was first made public about two years ago, though in a redacted state. Angelina’s 2022 legal filing describes the abusive day in terrible detail. And it’s just resurfaced, posted apparently in full to Reddit over the long weekend. We’ll also compared it to the aspects of the FBI report that have been come out. Brace yourselves, this is rough stuff — and it may change how you view one of your favorite movie stars forever.
‘A F**king Columbine Kid’
It was September 14. Brad, Angie, and their six children, who were 8 to 15 at the time, had spent two weeks at the Chateau and were flying back to Los Angeles on a private plane. And things were tense the whole time. Angelina’s suit states:
“Pitt’s aggressive behavior started even before the family got to the airport, with Pitt having a confrontation with one of the children.”
Apparently Brad had a business meeting that morning before the flight, and they met at the airport. According to her FBI interview from October 2016, Jolie said the family had “split up into two cars to get from the terminal, across the tarmac, and to the plane.” It was after that short drive that Angie could see there was some kind of problem between Brad and one of the children, believed to be Maddox. The earliest reports about this incident were always that Brad and Maddox had a fight. That was long before we heard the brutal details.
Angie told investigators she came out of her car and saw Brad holding the child’s arm and pointing. She asked what was wrong, to which Brad complained. She quoted him as saying:
“That kid looks like a f**king Columbine kid. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Yeesh. What was his problem? How do you say something like that to a child?
‘Mommy’s Not OK’
From the suit:
“After the flight took off, Jolie approached Pitt and asked him what was wrong. Pitt accused her of being too deferential to the children and verbally attacked her. An hour and a half later, Pitt abruptly walked over to Jolie, demanding, ‘Come here,’ and directed her to the back of the plane. He pulled her into the bathroom and began yelling at her. Pitt grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, and then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again before pushing her into the bathroom wall.”
In her FBI interview, Angie quoted Brad as telling her:
“You’re f***king up this family.”
Apparently he thought Maddox was turning out too… dark? She says he demanded about the unnamed child, that they were “gonna kill someone, will you be happy then?” WTF…
He left her in the bathroom, she says, but not for long. Per the suit:
“Pitt then punched the ceiling of the plane numerous times, prompting Jolie to leave the bathroom. As she exited, one of their children asked, ‘Are you ok, mommy?’ Pitt yelled back, ‘No, mommy’s not ok’ and started deriding Jolie with insults.”
In her FBI interview, she says she went to hug the kids, and he pushed her in front of them. From the suit:
“When one of the children verbally defended Jolie, Pitt lunged at his own child and Jolie grabbed him from behind to stop him.”
Per the FBI docs, the kid called Brad a “prick.” We guess that really set him off? She got him “in a choke hold” she said. The suit continued:
“To get Jolie off his back, Pitt threw himself backwards into the airplane’s seats injuring Jolie’s back and elbow. The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other. Before it was over, Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face.”
This is all just so awful. But we do want to say… it sounds like Angie was doing a great job. The way these docs put it, the kids were standing up to a bully and trying to protect their mom. Just sayin’.
A Tense Flight
Per Angie’s countersuit:
“Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop. They were all frightened. Many were crying. With nowhere to go and to avoid Pitt’s wrath, Jolie and the children sat still and silent under blankets. Nobody dared to go to the bathroom. Pitt periodically emerged from the back of the plane to yell and swear at them.”
Angie told the FBI the intimidation kept going as he was “watching the family in the reflection of a mirror on the wall.” She elaborated that he “would start up a new rant every 30 minutes and pace throughout the plane yelling at everyone.” So no one was ever able to relax. She told the federal investigators he would say things like:
“You broke up your family. Wake up [redacted], you broke up your family, congratulations.”
Wait, who is the redacted here? Is he telling that to Angie? Or to one of the kids? Because if it’s the latter, how truly awful for a parent to do! The suit adds that he also assaulted her with, well, alcohol abuse:
“At one point, he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children.”
Angie told the FBI the wine damage to the plane ended up costing her $25k. Ouch. Nothing much for her, but still.
An important point: she also maintained to the FBI that Brad was not drunk during all this. She said he was drinking… but that he was too clear-headed to be drunk, and that she’d seen him drink much more. She even said he’d once drunk a whole bottle of vodka and stayed pretty functional.
Angie told the FBI she inquired about separate transportation, and Brad heard her and “erupted” at her:
“You’re not f**king going anywhere. You’re not getting off this f**king plane. F**k you all. I’m f**king leaving you.”
Anyway, the lawsuit says that thankfully, “after many tense hours, Pitt finally fell asleep.”
Escaping Brad
With her husband asleep, the suit attests, Angie was able to figure out how to get the kids away:
“Jolie then arranged for separate transportation at the airport. After they landed, Jolie cautioned the children that no matter what Pitt did, they should not intervene. She then went to wake Pitt up and told him that she and the children were going to a hotel. Pitt once again screamed at her, and pushed her down yet again. He shouted that nobody was getting off the plane and prevented the family from deplaning for about 20 minutes.”
In her FBI interview she recalled him saying:
“You’re not taking my f**king kids.”
No, he was driving them away on his own by the sounds of it.
God, this is all so scary! But one of the kids showed immense bravery. Per the suit:
“After a child intervened and demanded to leave, Pitt finally relented. But once outside the plane door, Pitt again physically abused one of their children. He also grabbed and shook Jolie by the head and shoulders, causing one of the children to beg, ‘Don’t hurt her.’ He let Jolie go, but then called her a ‘bitch,’ before adding, ‘F**k you, f**k you all.’ Jolie and the children then left and made it to a hotel.”
Angie told the FBI she ended up with a “rug burn” type injury on her hand and bruises on her elbow and back. She took photos of the injuries, which were included in the FBI report.
In her lawsuit, the SALT star claimed Brad was abusive towards her for some time before this incident… the plane was just the first and only time he was ever physically abusive towards the kids.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
[Image via MEGA/WENN.]
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