It’s hard not to feel a boost when it comes to Brad Pitt these days. At one point, he’s shilling his super-soft cashmere shirts in a Goop exclusive; at another, he is suing his ex-wife Angelina Jolie for grapes in France; so he’s either dating or not dating Emily Ratajowski. All this happens while it produces the simmer but also possibly bad She says, a film about the explosive NYT Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor’s story of the Harvey Weinstein abuse allegations Pitt fought against and was complicit in. producing credits (never forget when Youn Yuh-Jung took him to task in his Oscar speech for never showing up on the minari set) against the relentless wave of legal drama between him and Jolie, it becomes harder to see how Pitt’s career can evolve.
Yesterday, The New York Times reported on the ongoing legal battle between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie over their hotly contested French winery, Chateau Miraval; included in the report were depressing and chilling allegations about an incident involving the former couple and their children on a private flight in 2016. According to records, “Pitt grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, then grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her before pushing her against the bathroom wall.Pitt then punched the ceiling of the plane repeatedly, prompting Jolie to leave the bathroom.When one of the children came to Ms. Jolie’s defense, according to court documents, Mr. Pitt lunged at the child, prompting her to grab him from behind.In the middle of the altercation, Mr. Pitt “choked the ‘one of the kids and punched another in the face’. ‘It’s dark and spooky stuff, the kind that Pitt would rather you didn’t think of when he talks about what temperature drinking water should be in conversation with Ottessa Moshfegh.
Where does Pitt’s career go from here? For years the evidence of his cruelty to Jolie has been mounting, and although he was America’s darling during his 2019 awards run for his supporting role in Quentin Tarantino Once upon a time… in Hollywood, it was hard not to see the strings being pulled at every intersection. Even now, Pitt is surrounded by allies, not only Johnny Depp’s PR team who also did crisis work for Pitt’s old nemesis Harvey Weinstein, but also Gwyneth Paltrow, his ex-girlfriend who is always happy to discuss products with him. Even having someone like Emily Ratajkowksi — a model, sure, but also a feminist writer and thinker — associated with him gives Pitt the kind of fake-aware credo he needs to bolster his reputation as an aging male star.
It’s impossible not to compare the ongoing legal proceedings between Pitt and Jolie to that of the aforementioned Depp and Amber Heard. Pitt, like Depp, sued her ex-spouse despite longstanding and credible allegations about her, using legal strategies to silence her. There have also previously been anti-Jolie campaign rumors on Youtube, Tiktok and Twitter, in the same way as for the Depp trial. But Pitt is also in a class of his own when it comes to all of that: people still really, really like him.
By the time Johnny Depp was at the helm in his own trial, he had been kicked out of the two most successful franchises of the 2010s. Pitt, on the other hand, played average High-speed train, which broke over $100 million at the box office, plus an appearance in friend Sandra Bullock’s film The lost city. This winter, he’s starring in Damien Chazelle’s explosive Hollywood epic David O. Russell. Babylon. He produces adaptations of popular books like The three body problem and Black hole. Everywhere you turn in Hollywood, Pitt is getting your hands on something new, smart, and interesting, whether it’s intellectual property, skincare, or a no-girlfriend. It’s bankable, it’s “funny”, it’s award-winning, and it’s still around.
He’s also, clearly, a piece of shit, but I predict that with enablers all around him, he’ll be able to push through any sticky or lasting fillers. Keep in mind that the incident on the plane with Jolie happened six years ago – and since then it has won an Oscar. There will be more flattering profiles touting her laissez-faire Zen attitude and coldness. Brad Pitt will be fine because people keep telling him he’s fine. At some point, there will be a “tell it all” type article, with a loving serif font and a sympathetic celebrity ear (Clooney? Paltrow? EmRata?) to which Pitt will detail his suffering, extol California sobriety and point out the the importance of his friends and family without ever detailing how far away he is from them. This is an infamous company, obsessed with product narrative rather than legitimate recovery. Although Pitt looks relaxed, wearing cashmere and serum-rich, his nastiness is still there, written all over the paperwork of what’s to come.