Rumors about Brad Pitt’s relationship with his children have been swirling for some time now, especially because several of them have legally dropped his last name. But apparently, Pitt remains optimistic that he will once again be part of their lives.
Brad and his ex-wife Angelina Jolie share six children: Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, both 17. Reports have suggested that Brad is essentially estranged from all of them.
Three of their kids have legally filed to change their names.
Shiloh did so when she turned 18 in 2024. Both Maddox and Zahara officially requested to drop “Pitt” from their names this year. Meanwhile, Vivienne appears to only use the name “Jolie.” Per Us Weekly, the 17-year-old worked as a production assistant on The Outsiders and she was credited as “Vivienne Jolie.”
Brad doesn’t really publicly speak about his relationship with his kids, but the tension is obvious. In 2025, a source told Page Six that Brad still saw Vivienne and Knox “periodically.” Another report from the same publication suggested that his relationship with his two oldest children is far more ruptured and complicated. “Brad honestly considers his relationship with Pax unfixable,” an insider alleged.
But for the most part, he seems to hold onto hope that things might change.
According to a new report from InTouch, Brad is approaching his complicated relationship with his children differently now that he’s feeling more confident. An insider who spoke to the publication mentioned how, in addition to his recent career success, Brad has achieved quite a bit when it comes to personal development. And that means the way he’s dealing with these challenges is far more “mature” than in the past, according to the source.
“Brad’s really changed on his sobriety journey over the last several years, and he’s taking a mature approach to what kind of future he’s going to have with his kids,” the insider told the publication.
The insider suggested that Brad will always be there for his kids if they reach out, even if things are looking pretty tense right now. “He has a different relationship with each of the kids, and even though they’ve all been through some tough times together, he’s always going to be their dad and he wants them to be as proud of him as they are of Angelina,” the source added.
The insider didn’t elaborate on how, exactly, Brad plans on repairing these relationships, but did say, “He knows he’ll eventually have a place in all of their lives again, because he helped raise these kids and turn them into the people they are today.”
Another recent report suggested that Pax is not totally estranged from the Pitt family.
Per Page Six, he doesn’t talk to his dad, but he does maintain a relationship with some relatives on his side of the family. A source said Pax “continues to spend time with them.”
Recently, he even “joined his family as they went out to dinner and celebrated his cousin Sydney’s engagement to Archimede Jerome,” the insider claimed.
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