Brad Pitt's relationship with eldest son Maddox is 'nonexistent' but actor hopes to reconnect with son Pax
Brad Pitt is still estranged and doesn't have a relationship with Maddox, his eldest son. Speaking to Us Weekly, a source said the 56-year-old actor doesn't see the 18-year-old nor does he communicate with his 16-year-old Pax. "That relationship continues to be nonexistent,” the insider said.
The magazine reported in October 2019 how the ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' star's relationship with his eldest son is strained. The eldest one, a student at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, became estranged from his father ever since an alleged altercation during a private jet flight to Los Angeles in 2016, which is said to be the reason behind Pitt and Jolie's split that year. "Maddox hasn’t been receptive. And for Brad, it’s a tremendous loss," a source said at the time.
However, the 'Ad Astra' star was reportedly optimistic about remedying his relationship with his and Jolie’s son Pax. “With Maddox overseas [for college], Brad is also hopeful that Pax will also be interested in reconnecting without the influence of his older brother,” the insider explained.
Last month, Jolie said she divorced Pitt for the sake of their children. 'The Tourist' star spoke to Vogue ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20. During the interview, when asked how she continued to have a healthy environment for her kids after separating from their father, she said: “I separated for the wellbeing of my family. It was the right decision. I continue to focus on their healing. Some have taken advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media, but I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds. In fact, they are six very brave, very strong young people.”
Jolie adopted Maddox, 18, Zahara, 15, and Pax, 16 in 2002, 2005, and 2007, respectively. She gave birth to her three biological children — Shiloh, 14, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 12 — after adopting the other three. The ‘Maleficent’ star called both methods “a beautiful way of becoming a family."
“What is important is to speak with openness about all of it and to share," she told Vogue at the time. "‘Adoption’ and ‘orphanage’ are positive words in our home. With my adopted children, I can’t speak of pregnancy, but I speak with much detail and love about the journey to find them and what it was like to look in their eyes for the first time.”
The actress also explained how “adopted children come with a beautiful mystery of a world." “When they are from another race and foreign land, that mystery, that gift, is so full," Jolie said. "For them, they must never lose touch with where they came from. They have roots that you do not. Honor them. Learn from them. It’s the most amazing journey to share. They are not entering your world, you are entering each other’s worlds."
Jolie had already become the mother of Maddox and Zahara when she started dating Pitt in 2005. The Fury star subsequently adopted her kids and legally changed their last names to Jolie-Pitt. The former couple welcomed four more children into their lives before tying the knot in 2014 in France.