Content warning: This post discusses suicidal ideation.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie share six children: Maddox, 25; Pax, 22; Zahara, 21; Shiloh, 20; and 18-year-old twins, Knox and Vivienne. But since Brad and Angelina's 2016 separation, there have been plenty of signs to suggest that the Jolie-Pitt kids are estranged from their father.
For a reminder, Brad and Angelina’s September 2016 split was believed to have been triggered by an alleged incident on a private jet, whereby Brad was accused of physically and verbally abusing Angelina and their oldest son, Maddox, who was 15 at the time. Child welfare officials investigated the incident and, after denying all allegations, Brad was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Since Angelina filed for divorce, Brad has rarely been seen with any of the kids, and he hasn't talked publicly about them in years.
And now, as it stands, four out of the six children have legally requested to drop "Pitt" from their last names.
As you'll probably know, Shiloh was the first to make the name-change back in 2024, with sources saying that her "independent and significant decision" to drop her dad’s last name came after "painful events."
Zahara and Maddox both filed to drop "Pitt" from their names this year, and Vivienne followed suit with a similar legal petition in July, listing the name change as a "personal" decision.
There has obviously been a lot of speculation as to how both Brad and Angelina feel about the kids changing their names. Angelina has not commented publicly on the matter, although a source close to her told People, "If people knew the whole truth, they would have more sympathy for the children and respect them."
Similarly, Brad has not publicly addressed the name changes. But now, in a new interview with Esquire, the actor made some incredibly rare comments about difficulties in his family life.
During a conversation about the "extreme highs" and the "soul-crushing lows" of the "human experience," Brad opened up about a time in his life when he experienced suicidal ideation. "I’ve never been suicidal except for one little period," he said. "And in that one little period, I just thought—I just couldn’t—just didn’t see a way out."
"The pain was so oppressive that—I wasn’t going to act on this, but I could feel—I could feel the cold steel of the bullet in my head, and it felt like relief," Brad continued. "And I thought, Oh, okay, now I understand—I understand suicide, in the sense that it’s just relief. It’s just looking for relief from the pain. But I also think we have incredible survival instincts. And for me, that immediately kicked in, but it was just... Like, listen: This shit ain’t easy. And you’re talking to a guy who won the lottery."
In response to this, the journalist, Ryan D'Agostino, asked Brad if this difficult time in his life was related to "kid stuff." Brad replied, "family stuff," and Ryan wrote that "something [changed] in the room."
Ryan seemed to gently prompt Brad to offer more detail; however, the actor prevented the discussion from going any further. "Family stuff," he repeated. "We could leave it at that."
Brad rarely talks about family life, particularly his children. In 2020, he gave his kids a shoutout while accepting his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, saying, "This is for my kids, who color everything I do. I adore you." Two years later, he was asked about Zahara’s acceptance into Spelman College at the premiere of Bullet Train. He replied, "That’s beautiful," which only fueled the rumors of estrangement even more.
A year ago, on the Armchair Expert podcast, Brad talked about joining Alcoholics Anonymous soon after his and Angelina's split. Though he didn't talk explicitly about the breakup or the events that led to it, he said that he was struggling deeply around this time and was open to "trying anything and everyone" that might help.
"I was pretty much on my back…on my knees, and I was really open," he recalled. "I was trying anything and everyone. Anything anyone threw at me. It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting. I needed to wake the fuck up in some areas. And it just meant a lot to me."
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