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Why Angelina Jolie’s Waging War Over Custody With Brad Pitt: ‘She Sees the Writing on the Wall’ (Exclusive)

Last week, Brad Pitt was blasted in a new court brief filed by Angelina Jolie’s legal team, setting off a deluge of press and fresh speculation over who will win custody of their six children. In the document, filed August 7, Jolie effectively called her 54-year-old ex a deadbeat dad, claiming he “has paid no meaningful child support” in the 23 months since their split.

Related: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Custody Battle: Everything We Know So Far

Now, in the new issue of Us Weekly, sources reveal the reason Jolie is increasing her attacks on the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actor. Says a Pitt insider, “She sees the writing on the wall: Joint custody is a done deal, and there is nothing she can do to stop it.”

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Karwai Tang/WireImag

Not that she won’t try. When Pitt’s side responded in their own filing that he had paid Jolie $9.3 million since her shocking September 2016 divorce filing, a lawyer for the 43-year-old actress fired back in a statement to Us that $8 million of that money was in the form of a home loan “for which he is charging her interest on a payment plan… A loan is not, however, child support and to represent it as such is misleading and inaccurate.”

Related: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: The Way They Were

Jolie and Pitt share six children: Maddox, 17, Pax, 14, Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 12, and 10-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

Immediately following Jolie’s divorce filing, Pitt was the subject of a child services investigation — after which he was cleared of any wrongdoing. Jolie has held primary custody of the children, though her estranged husband, who has been sober since their split, has been granted increasing visitation rights. In June, an L.A. judge ordered a temporary shared custody agreement for the summer, noting that Jolie was in danger of losing custody if she continued to limit Pitt’s interaction with his children.

Related: Hollywood’s Ugliest Divorces

The ruling helped restore the Missouri native’s confidence in his case. “Brad is done playing doormat to Angie, hoping that would tamp down her anger,” says the insider. “He is going to trust his lawyers and inner circle of friends to continue to be there for him — and get him joint custody of the kids.”

us weekly
Us Magazine

For more on Pitt and Jolie’s custody battle — including their next steps — pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on stands now.

Related: Brangelina's Relationship Timeline

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