A hand held at JFK

Pitt, 62, arrived at JFK Airport in New York hand-in-hand with girlfriend Ines de Ramon, 33. The timing landed in the middle of a rough stretch with his children.

Two very different looks

He wore a grey cropped jacket with baggy pants, a fringed yellow flannel over a grey tee, yellow sneakers, a backwards cap and aviators. She wore a silky white blouse and matching bottoms.

Courtside at the US Open

The couple were also photographed at the US Open women's final between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, cuddled up in the stands.

A public couple on purpose

The appearances read as a deliberate show of stability while the story around his family keeps getting worse in print.

Six kids, two paths

Pitt and Jolie had Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 18, and adopted Maddox, 25, Pax, 22, and Zahara, 21.

Four names dropped

Every child except Pax and Knox has filed legal paperwork to remove Pitt's surname. Vivienne was the most recent to make it official.

An ad in a legal paper

Last month Vivienne took out a notice in the Los Angeles Daily Journal announcing her petition to change her name from Jolie-Pitt to Jolie. Court papers cite 'personal' reasons.

Already Jolie in practice

The filing formalized something she had done years earlier. In the Playbill for the 2024 Broadway production of The Outsiders, she was credited as Vivienne Jolie.

Jolie paints a warm picture

In a new L'Officiel USA interview, Jolie, 51, said her children 'know me pretty well' and 'know all sides of me,' landing as the name changes made headlines.

“know all sides of me”

Just Mom on set

Maddox and Pax work as assistant directors on her films. She said her pride comes from staying out of their way as adults with their own lives.

“Obviously it's nice for me to be around them, but I am just Mom, wanting to be around her family.”

The crying she hid

Jolie clarified earlier remarks about not weeping in front of her kids. Birthday cards make her cry, she said, but she hid the deeper pain until making Maria.

“That wailing emotional pain is certainly what I would hide from my children until Maria.”

Spelman and a sorority

She described visiting Zahara at Spelman College in Atlanta and being told what joining Alpha Kappa Alpha meant. She called it a place that transformed her daughter.

“There's no place that would've been better for her.”

Empty nester plans

With all six children now adults, Jolie wants field work, travel, her motorcycle back, and to fly again. She says that is what her kids want too.

“They had Mom when Mom needed to be Mom.”

Sources on both sides

A Jolie source told People the children's silence shows decency. A Pitt insider told the Daily Mail he believes Jolie's role in all this was 'the ultimate betrayal.'

“If people knew the whole truth, they would have more sympathy for the children.”

How it started

Pitt and Jolie fell for each other making Mr & Mrs Smith in 2005, while he was married to Jennifer Aniston. Fans split into Team Jolie and Team Aniston.

She denied the affair

Jolie has always said nothing happened while Pitt was married, pointing to her own father's cheating as the reason she could not have done it.

“I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that.”

Married, then over

They went public in 2006, married in 2014, and split in 2016. The divorce triggered a fight over money and custody that is still running.

The plane incident

Jolie filed in September 2016 after a dispute on a private jet with Maddox, then 15, aboard. The FBI looked into allegations Pitt got 'physical' and closed the case with no charges.

Pax's tirade and crash

Pax once called his father a 'world-class a**hole' publicly. After his 2024 dirt bike crash, Jolie was at the hospital while Pitt was reportedly unable to reach him.

“a terrible and despicable person”

The winery still burns

Jolie sold her half of Chateau Miraval to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler for $67million in 2021. Pitt sued, saying he had to consent. She wants the suit dropped so the family can heal.