It’s been a busy weekend of briefing and counter-briefing in the biggest celebrity divorce of the decade, with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt stepping up their war of words as their separation threatens to become one of the most bitter custody disputes in Hollywood history.
The latest leaks report that Angelina, 41, has opted for a strategy of steely silence, blocking Brad’s phone number, making it impossible for him to call or text her, and that Brad, 52, is a weepy mess following Jolie’s bombshell divorce filing, and her team’s much-repeated and off-the-record allegations that Brad is a “bad dad” with anger-management issues exacerbated by a love of weed and alcohol.
“Angelina has blocked all incoming text messages and also Brad's numbers,” a source tells Us Weekly.
The source also told Us Weekly that Angelina sought to leverage the impact of her case by catching Pitt unaware with her action: “Angelina filed the court papers a minute before the courts closed Monday night. [Brad] didn’t have a lawyer or anything.”
In other developments, there has also been confirmation that, unlike the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp split, financials are not going to be an issue in this divorce, as The Daily Beast reported last week.
“Brangelina have 12 total properties together... all of which they snatched up either before they were married or before they were even dating. Seven of those belong to Brad, two to Angie and three which they bought together prior to tying the knot in 2014,” TMZ says.
The battle looks set to focus instead on custody arrangements for their six children.
Jolie is seeking sole custody, with the assumption being that she is going to use the “bad dad” line to bolster her case. However, Pitt is not prepared to roll over on the issue.
Us Weekly also has more details on an alleged altercation between the couple that took place aboard a private jet as the family, including their six children (Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10 and twins Knox and Vivienne, 8), flew from Nice, France, to Burbank, California, on Sept. 14.
“[Pitt] got drunk and was fighting with Angie,” an insider told Us of the incident. “Maddox stepped in to defend Angie and got in Brad’s face.”
It’s a good day, however, for French actress Marion Cotillard.
After her forceful denial on Instagram last week that she had been romantically involved with Pitt, she now appears to be out of the Jolie firing line, with sources briefing that there is no third party involved in the breakup.
