All the things Brad Pitt has said about his children
All the times Brad Pitt has spoken about being a father to six children
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the former 'power couple' of Hollywood, share six children. Their oldest, Maddox and Zahara, were adopted from Cambodia in 2002 and from Ethiopia in 2005, respectively, by Jolie. Brad accompanied her on her second trip to the countries in 2006 to make the adoption official. The same year, the couple welcomed their daughter Shiloh. Jolie adopted Pax from Vietnam in 2007. He was also adopted by Pitt in 2008, and later that year the couple had a set of twins, Knox and Vivienne. Pitt and Jolie were together for 12 years. They got hitched in 2014, but shockingly for the rest of the world, got divorced in 2016. Their separation has been marred with legal battles, including over custody of the children. Jolie was initially granted sole custody, with Pitt having visitation rights. Later in 2021, he was awarded joint custody, but the decision was later overturned in an appeal. Jolie now has sole custody over the kids, and Pitt has visitation rights for the minors. The children would be deciding whether or not they want to keep in touch with their father. On Father's Day 2020, Pax went on an explosive rant on Instagram against Pitt, calling him a "world class a*****e" and a "f*****g awful human being." In light of the rant resurfacing on the internet, here is a list of everything Brad Pitt has said about his children over the years.
May 2011: Raising the children while dealing with paparazzi
Brad Pitt spoke of his life with Jolie and the children, and dealing with paparazzi, during an interview with USA Weekend. "We're hunted. Our kids have to live behind a gate. Outside, there are people with cameras... But I'll take the trade-off. I never knew I was capable of experiencing so much love," said the actor. "Angie and I do everything we can to carve out some semblance of normalcy for them, to re-create the kinds of moments that were special for us. It's not unusual for the kids to be covered in paint. We have mud fights. It's chaos from morning until the lights go out, and sometimes after that."
November 2014: 'Care about the children more than myself'
Talking to Psychologies Magazine, Pitt said in a November 2014 interview, "I care about (my children) more than I care about myself, which I think is the real definition of love. You see past yourself and become more generous and giving, and wanting only the best for your family."
November 2015: Challenges faced with kids
"Listen, Angie and I were aiming for a dozen, but we crapped out after six. Everyone talks about the joy of having kids—blah, blah, blah. But I never knew how much I could love something until I looked in the faces of my children," Pitt reportedly told The Telegraph. "Because we're migratory workers in a sense, they have this wonderful thing where they get to be students of the world. They have memories of being in Vietnam, or that time in Paris, or over in Calgary," he said. "The downside is friends, sleepovers, team sports—these have been the challenges that we've had to work out. We do those things, but we really have to go out of our way. And mom is a matador about it all—she's fantastic. We get their friends to us a lot," he added.
May 2017: After family was ripped apart by 2016 divorce
Pitt told AP, "Kids are everything. Kids are your life. They're taking all the focus, as they should anyway." In an interview with GQ the same year, Pitt addressed his divorce, saying, "I worry about it more for my kids, being subjected to it, and their friends getting ideas from it. I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called ... We're both doing our best. I heard one lawyer say, 'No one wins in court—it's just a matter of who gets hurt worse.' ... It's just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart." He continued, "When I get in that busy work mode, I'm not hearing. I want to be better at that. I gotta be more. I gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven't been great at it."
December 2019: Evolving perspective
In a conversation with Anthony Hopkins for Interview Magazine, Pitt threw light on his changing perspective, saying, "I find myself, at this latter stage, much more moved. Moved by my kids, moved by friends, moved by the news. Just moved."
February 2020: Oscar acceptance speech
While accepting his first Oscar, Pitt said on stage, "This is for my kids who color everything I do. I adore you." When a reporter later questioned if the star would allow his kids to take on acting as a career, he replied, "We can have that conversation once they turn 18! I want them to follow their bliss, follow their passions, whatever they're most interested in. It's about guiding as you can, but they get to try everything on and try what their passion is."
August 2022: Being proud of them
When it was reported that Zahara would be attending Spelman College, Pitt told reporters at a movie premiere that he's "so proud of her. She's so smart. She's going to flourish even more at college. It's an exciting and beautiful time to find her own way and pursue her interests." When asked about Shiloh's dancing videos that are up on social media, Pitt replied, "It brings a tear to the eye, yeah. I don't know where she got it from. I'm Mr. Two-Left-Feet here. I love when they find their own way, find things they are interested in and flourish."