Come Christmas, Brad Pitt may have good reason to say “Bah! Humbug!” In the new issue of Us Weekly, a source reveals that the Allied actor, 52, who did not see the six children he shares with estranged wife Angelina Jolie on Thanksgiving, could miss them on December 25 too. “Brad hopes to see the kids for Christmas at some point,” says a Pitt source, “but when hasn’t been determined.”
After Pitt and the Maleficent star, 41, split in September, they became locked in a bitter battle over Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and 8-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. As Us previously reported, Jolie filed for full physical custody of the children, and Pitt — desperate to see his kids as the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and the FBI looked into allegations that he hit one of his kids aboard a plane in September — agreed to visits only when a therapist gave the OK.
Since then, Pitt, who was cleared in both inquiries, has only seen the kids a handful of times. (Sources disagree on how many visits he’s had since September, with one claiming it’s no more than four.) In a November 29 email to Jolie’s attorney Laura Wasser, Pitt’s attorney Lance Spiegel complains about “scheduling and other logistical problems” that resulted in “significant periods of no contact” between Pitt and his children. (Per the couple’s custody agreement, therapists, not Jolie, determine visitation.)
As the months have dragged on, Pitt has grown “sad and frustrated,” reveals a Pitt friend. His final plea to Jolie’s team: extra 30- to 60-minute visits with all of the children and a “step-up in connection” over the holidays. The duo’s attorneys hashed out the request in hostile emails. Wasser argued that Pitt did “not seem to have any regard for what the children’s therapists feel is in their best interests.” And in a December 1 email, she warned that him pursuing unsupervised visits could lead to “costly, ugly, protracted and public court battles.” Pitt has filed for joint physical custody, but has yet to ask for a court hearing on the matter.
After 12 years with Pitt (and two years of marriage), Jolie filed for divorce on September 19, citing irreconcilable differences.
For more on Jolie and Pitt’s battle, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now!
