Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | May 31, 2024
The Outsiders, a musical adaptation of the Francis Ford Coppola film, recently received a ton of Tony nominations, including one for one of its main producers, Angelina Jolie. Accompanying her on her new job as a theatre impresario is her youngest daughter, Vivienne, who has been working as her producer assistant (Vivienne is a big theatre geek and the one who convinced her mother to support this musical). It’s been super cute to see them together working on this show. In the Playbill and in the crew credits, she is listed as Vivienne Jolie. No Pitt in sight. This has garnered some headlines, including a piece from OK! (hardly a reliable publication, mind you) lamenting how poor innocent Brad is heartbroken by the news. It’s all Angelina’s fault, the “sources” say, of course.
🆕#AngelinaJolie and Vivienne Jolie attend the opening night performance of "Reefer Madness: The Musical" with matching suits at The Whitley on May 30, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. pic.twitter.com/H6sYKnL5p4
— Let Her Go ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (@angeltresjolie_) May 31, 2024
Around the time that Jolie earned her first Tony nomination, Pitt went on the paparazzi trail with his latest girlfriend, 34-year-old Ines de Ramon, for a series of totally casual beach walk pics that made Bradley Cooper reading Lolita in the park with Suki Waterhouse look like the Zapruder film. The photos were an exclusive for PEOPLE, with another ‘source’ saying that the pair ‘are going very strong and she is happier than ever.’
Pitt’s prolonged and questionable legal battle against Jolie has mostly gone in Jolie’s favor, particularly regarding the state of the vineyard they used to own together. Jolie sold her control of shares in Miraval to Tenute del Mondo, the wine division of the Stoli group controlled by Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler, for $67 million in 2021. Pitt then sued her for monetary damages and legal fees and for her sale of those shares to be voiced. Last year, he filed additional court documents accusing Jolie of trying to ‘inflict harm’ on him and Miraval. Earlier this year, a judge dismissed most of Pitt’s claims. Jolie’s lawyer, Paul Murphy, told Entertainment Tonight that his ‘lawsuit has never been about a business dispute; instead, it is about his attempts to cover up serious abuse, and we are gratified the judge has thrown out so much of Mr. Pitt’s complaint.’
This isn’t Pitt’s only legal mess involving Miraval. In France, he lost a lawsuit against the country’s tax authorities after it was revealed that he had tried to reduce the value of the vineyard by around €21 million. Funnily enough, this story didn’t get as much American press coverage as his endless legal attacks on Jolie.
It’s been tough to avoid the sense that Pitt’s legal fights with his ex-wife are part of his extensive campaign to retain control over his estranged family. Jolie herself said the lawsuits were ‘efforts to control and financially drain her.’ The Daily Mail reported on this by describing Jolie as ‘vengeful’ and claiming that Pitt actually made her richer through his child support payments. The overwhelmingly pro-Pitt tone of the press surrounding this divorce has been nauseating yet entirely predictable.
Speaking of the Daily Mail, they recently published a piece on Pitt’s ‘battle to fix his broken bond’ with his daughter Shiloh, who recently turned 18. According to those sources, Pitt is ‘confident’ that he can repair their relationship now that she can’t be ‘kept from him’ by Jolie. So we see the narrative clear as crystal - the mother is evil, a liar, and a manipulator over the abused children of America’s hunk. It’s an easy lie to sell. It doesn’t take much to make people believe that a woman is lying about being abused, even when they have FBI reports in their corner.
This story fell apart very quickly, though. Why? Because Shiloh’s first act as a legal adult was to file paperwork to have ‘Pitt’ removed from her surname. TMZ, ever the scumhole with a knack for getting their hands on court documents, reported that she had petitioned a court for the name change.
As we’ve seen several times before, the Jolie-Pitt kids are not keen to have the name Pitt associated with them. Zahara refers to herself by Jolie at college. Maddox is reportedly known solely by Jolie. Vivienne has only her mother’s name in her Playbill credit. Pax told him where to shove it. But Shiloh seems to be the first one to make it legally clear where she stands.
So, Pitt wants to keep attacking Jolie through their kids. It’s the ‘she’s turned the weans against me’ defence, a favourite among abusive men who put their children through hell and then dare to act as Father of the Year for cameras. I’m sure there are still plenty of woman-hating creeps and giddy publicists eager to spin the narrative to further smear Jolie. They’ll just claim she’s brainwashed her kids and that they actually hate her, even though they’re frequently photographed with her, collaborate with her on various projects, and attend one another’s important events. On a red carpet, Brad was asked about Zahara going to college, and it seemed clear to everyone that it was the first time he’d heard the news. But Angie’s the issue, right?
Remember, we’re dealing with a domestic abuse case. Brad Pitt is accused of physically attacking Jolie and at least one of their children. Rather than seek to mend their relationship privately or let his kids heal, Pitt launched into an aggressive media campaign that sold his ex-wife and family down the river so he could win an Oscar, make some money, and retain his reputation. And most of the entertainment press supported him in his endeavour because they were too scared to lose access to the Babylon junket, or whatever.
Jolie, meanwhile, deserves to thrive. She’s a Tony nominee. She was recently on the cover of Vogue Japan looking amazing as she supported local craftspeople and the work of Guerlain’s bees project. Her fashion hub, Atelier Jolie, made outfits for the Oscars and premiere of The Outsiders. And her next film, Maria, a biopic of Maria Callas, is favored to open at the Venice Film Festival. She has dealt with Pitt’s public and private cruelty with grace, walking a fine line between maintaining her privacy and advocating for those like her who have suffered at the hands of their partners. Every time I see a photograph of her with her kids, the love between them is evident. That speaks volumes to me, far more so than some anonymous source spinning sh*t from sh*t.
