What A Brad Pitt Insider Is Claiming About Angelina Jolie's Recent Behavior

Angelina Jolie has had a busy and victorious October, between her Marvel's "Eternals" press tour winning over fans as she hit the red carpet with many of her six children and another court ruling in her favor in the ongoing custody battle with ex-husband Brad Pitt. On October 27, per Page Six, Pitt's petition to challenge the July ruling disqualifying Judge John Ouderkirk from overseeing the ex-couple's custody dispute was denied by the California appellate court. The quick backstory: in late May, Ouderkirk granted Pitt and Jolie temporary joint custody of their five minor children, per NBC News, clearly to Jolie's displeasure. After a review, the 2nd District Court of Appeal removed Ouderkirk from the case in July, on the grounds that the private judge was working on other legal dealings with Pitt's lawyer, per ET. The California appellate court agreed with the July ruling that Ouderkirk's other professional relationship affected "his ability to be impartial."

Meanwhile, Jolie has been striking pose after pose promoting "Eternals," with her children making waves for wearing upcycled versions of her previous outfits. "I'm like, 'Oh my god, wear it and wear it better than me! Take it, it's your turn.' I'm that mom," Jolie told E! News of the remixing. 

Though it seems the actor has been on a winning streak, not everyone has been so charmed, particularly Pitt's friends. Here's what one of them is accusing Jolie of doing as their custody battle wages on.

Is Angelina Jolie trying to rouse good publicity through her children? That is what one source from Brad Pitt's inner circle is claiming. "Angelina's using the kids," they told the New York Post. "It's hard to understand how this behavior of parading them around is in their best interest. Brad never takes the kids out publicly — and he rarely talks about them." However, a Jolie insider refuted this claim, pointing out, "The children are, not surprisingly given Brad and Angelina's characters, very independent-minded. They don't do things they don't want to do."

The Pitt insider also questioned Jolie bringing the issue of child abuse into her ongoing legal battle against her ex. As Jolie told the Guardian in September, she feared for the safety of "my whole family" in regards to Pitt. However, the Post's source questioned why other alleged incidents of abuse haven't emerged since the 2016 jet incident with son Maddox Jolie-Pitt that prompted Jolie to file for divorce. The insider asked, "Wouldn't Angelina not have brought up broader abuse ... If she was so worried about such a pattern of behavior, how do you just let it go?" As Jolie's own insider told the Post, she and others are legally barred from disclosing further details due to the court proceedings being sealed. Hopefully, this once-golden Hollywood family can find some pathway to healing soon.