The way it should’ve been all over everything and wasn’t boggled my mind. That PR team is savage. (Does it happen to be the same PR team Deep has? Or do they all use the same methods?)
Sadly, this is pretty common in abusive relationships, celebrity or not. Even when it's that bad, that obviously and directly bad, people struggle to accept it.
What’s that saying? If Brad Pitt has no haters, that means I’m dead? I remember that his kids won’t talk to him or even use his name. I also remember the Katrina homes and the vanity skincare line. I even remember how F1 kept shooting for a bit during the writer and actors’ strikes. So yeah, Brad Pitt is trash and some of us do know!
Yeah, that plane incident is a dealbreaker. But before that was his scammy post-Katrina New Orleans housing project. Beyond all this there's also his general vibe of cringe (the clothes, the "girlfriend", the facelift), which for me, ruined all past goodwill accrued from his presence in fun movies like Soderbergh's Oceans series.
Yes, exactly! What a loser & fraud he is. Remember all those articles about how he was seriously into & knowledgable about architecture? lol, what a joke media is
THIS. This is why I love you. You write about everything I'm interested in and you have all.the.points. I have been thinking about how we all ignore what he did to Angie for years and it's awful, and made me think so differently of him. she seems like a truly good person who stands up for what she believes in, fights for injustice, loves and takes care of her kids, etc. and it's like we've all just forgotten what he did 9 years ago?! ugh. don't get me started. But thank you for this post!!!
Thank you! I've suffered through over a year of fawning over Pitt during F1 coverage because not only was he spearheading the F1 movie, he included a lot of driver cameos. I kept thinking, do you not know, or do you not care? The world has memory-holed that plane assault, for sure.
This. As an F1 fan, I have been watching all of this unfold and it is really irritating. Having Lewis involved also sucks. This movie is going to be a comeback and rewriting of history role for Pitt and using F1 to do it is really gross.
honestly I'm not surprised at people refusing to engage with his (alleged) abuse. it's disappointing and enraging but I've seen this on the micro scale working with people who have experienced intimate partner violence as a therapist. I genuinely believe that IPV/DV is closely intertwined with colonialist patriarchy (it's largely focused on dominance and enforcing gender roles), so until we reckon with that, I don't think we'll see meaningful engagement with the topic. I mean hell, Johnny Depp successfully PR campaigned his way out of documented abuse so .....
Loved this whole piece (could not agree more, btw) but must say that you know you're a talented writer when the effing FOOTNOTE is an insightful aside. Just brilliant.
I'm with you on Pitt, and Im relieved to see your slight gray-shading on Cruise. I lean that way too. I do take the tentative (presumptuous?) position that, as a lifelong celebrity with some Peter Pan issues, he was essentially (belatedly) groomed by Scientology. I know it's didcordant to see victimhood there when he's clearly pretty awful, and more powerful than anyone who might fall into his orbit of hurt, but he seems overtly/profoundly broken by something in a way that...it creates a grayness that feels tarnishing even to articulate.
omg thank you!! it was crazy when ppl kept seeing him and shouting him out/saying how hot he is from the stage at the golden globes (i think?) post-allegations
it’s amazing how all of you know Pitt is a lowlife … because Jolie said so? The women who mouth kissed her brother in camera and wore her then-husband’s blood in a vial around her neck. She seems totally normal and believeable. Pause. Not.
Unless you were in the room where it happened you don’t know shit.
And never mind what you say about Jolie (except it only proves she’s a bit bizarre, which is no crime air indictment relating to pitt’s own behavior). Never mind how weird it was for Pitt to ghost his former wife in JenAn to do that W ‘Domestic Bliss’ photo spread with Ang only months later. Aniston literally said there was a sensitivity chip that’s missing in him. (Are you also going to find a character assault for her, too?)
What about his own children who have made public statements about the incident? Is their separation from him (dropping his name, etc), not an indicator that maybe there’s more information to support abusive behavior than not? Do they have a right to be believed?
Doesn’t the same logic apply to you not knowing it *didn’t* happen?
Personally I have a hard time imagining a plane carrying the Jolie-Pitts makes an emergency landing in the Midwest without there being, ya know, an emergency.
Do you have kids? Wait. I can answer that — you don’t or you wouldn’t ask that question. My kids lie about everything. Kids can be swayed by their parents to villainize other family members. Jolie is a vindictive bitch and she passed it along to her kids. Not that difficult to believe.
No one here is pretending … But you’re also calling a woman you don’t know, and have never met, a vindictive bitch. Careful on that high horse, would hate for you to fall right off it.
Also the part about people disliking Angelina J and just dismissing her entirely in favor of him because of that. Yes, she is weird (maybe?, but that doesn’t mean she deserves abuse or that things didn’t happen.
Thank you! I left him behind years ago with the plane incident being the last straw and I really felt like the only one.
the plane incident is so underdiscussed it really kills me!
The way it should’ve been all over everything and wasn’t boggled my mind. That PR team is savage. (Does it happen to be the same PR team Deep has? Or do they all use the same methods?)
It is hard to believe the plane incident is such a non issue for people! I was never a big fan of his but that was the last straw.
Sadly, this is pretty common in abusive relationships, celebrity or not. Even when it's that bad, that obviously and directly bad, people struggle to accept it.
I left him behind after the plan incident as well. Who needs him?
I never heard about this which proves what a problem it is and what PR can do.
“It's Clooney and Co. who carry the Ocean's franchise, and don't you forget it.” HARD AGREE! As always, an excellent piece!
I might disagree here - it’s everyone together that made that series special for me.
What’s that saying? If Brad Pitt has no haters, that means I’m dead? I remember that his kids won’t talk to him or even use his name. I also remember the Katrina homes and the vanity skincare line. I even remember how F1 kept shooting for a bit during the writer and actors’ strikes. So yeah, Brad Pitt is trash and some of us do know!
Yeah, that plane incident is a dealbreaker. But before that was his scammy post-Katrina New Orleans housing project. Beyond all this there's also his general vibe of cringe (the clothes, the "girlfriend", the facelift), which for me, ruined all past goodwill accrued from his presence in fun movies like Soderbergh's Oceans series.
I can't believe I didn't talk about the New Orleans thing, you're so right!
We don’t talk enough about the New Orleans house scandal. I’m surprised Clara didn’t bring it up because it’s so damning
Yes, exactly! What a loser & fraud he is. Remember all those articles about how he was seriously into & knowledgable about architecture? lol, what a joke media is
Plus he fucked over hurricane victims. We moved on from that a little too fast for my liking
100%
I didn’t even know about this!!
New Orleans has NOT forgotten the housing project - he was over for me before the plane.
This housing project is news to me! Do you have any recs for reading more about it?
THIS. This is why I love you. You write about everything I'm interested in and you have all.the.points. I have been thinking about how we all ignore what he did to Angie for years and it's awful, and made me think so differently of him. she seems like a truly good person who stands up for what she believes in, fights for injustice, loves and takes care of her kids, etc. and it's like we've all just forgotten what he did 9 years ago?! ugh. don't get me started. But thank you for this post!!!
i love you, thank you friend <3
Thank you! I've suffered through over a year of fawning over Pitt during F1 coverage because not only was he spearheading the F1 movie, he included a lot of driver cameos. I kept thinking, do you not know, or do you not care? The world has memory-holed that plane assault, for sure.
This. As an F1 fan, I have been watching all of this unfold and it is really irritating. Having Lewis involved also sucks. This movie is going to be a comeback and rewriting of history role for Pitt and using F1 to do it is really gross.
honestly I'm not surprised at people refusing to engage with his (alleged) abuse. it's disappointing and enraging but I've seen this on the micro scale working with people who have experienced intimate partner violence as a therapist. I genuinely believe that IPV/DV is closely intertwined with colonialist patriarchy (it's largely focused on dominance and enforcing gender roles), so until we reckon with that, I don't think we'll see meaningful engagement with the topic. I mean hell, Johnny Depp successfully PR campaigned his way out of documented abuse so .....
Loved this whole piece (could not agree more, btw) but must say that you know you're a talented writer when the effing FOOTNOTE is an insightful aside. Just brilliant.
This is a fantastic piece.
I'm with you on Pitt, and Im relieved to see your slight gray-shading on Cruise. I lean that way too. I do take the tentative (presumptuous?) position that, as a lifelong celebrity with some Peter Pan issues, he was essentially (belatedly) groomed by Scientology. I know it's didcordant to see victimhood there when he's clearly pretty awful, and more powerful than anyone who might fall into his orbit of hurt, but he seems overtly/profoundly broken by something in a way that...it creates a grayness that feels tarnishing even to articulate.
Don’t forget that Brad Pitt is the executive producer of every other film, especially seemingly for marginalized voices. Very intentional.
omg thank you!! it was crazy when ppl kept seeing him and shouting him out/saying how hot he is from the stage at the golden globes (i think?) post-allegations
Thank you for this. I just unfollowed two (quite high-profile) Instagrammers because they posted positively about Pitt. Gross.
it’s amazing how all of you know Pitt is a lowlife … because Jolie said so? The women who mouth kissed her brother in camera and wore her then-husband’s blood in a vial around her neck. She seems totally normal and believeable. Pause. Not.
Unless you were in the room where it happened you don’t know shit.
And never mind what you say about Jolie (except it only proves she’s a bit bizarre, which is no crime air indictment relating to pitt’s own behavior). Never mind how weird it was for Pitt to ghost his former wife in JenAn to do that W ‘Domestic Bliss’ photo spread with Ang only months later. Aniston literally said there was a sensitivity chip that’s missing in him. (Are you also going to find a character assault for her, too?)
What about his own children who have made public statements about the incident? Is their separation from him (dropping his name, etc), not an indicator that maybe there’s more information to support abusive behavior than not? Do they have a right to be believed?
Doesn’t the same logic apply to you not knowing it *didn’t* happen?
Personally I have a hard time imagining a plane carrying the Jolie-Pitts makes an emergency landing in the Midwest without there being, ya know, an emergency.
Why would his kids lie? I want to eventually hear from all these celebrity’s kids.
Do you have kids? Wait. I can answer that — you don’t or you wouldn’t ask that question. My kids lie about everything. Kids can be swayed by their parents to villainize other family members. Jolie is a vindictive bitch and she passed it along to her kids. Not that difficult to believe.
You’re also (pretty conveniently) ignoring that 4 of his children are legal adults. Do all legal adults lie?
Because Pitt wasn’t invited to Zahara’s Spelman move-in.
Shiloh’s dancing all over town and … no Pitt.
His elder sons in their 20s are the ones publicly calling him an abuser.
To be totally fair, your kids lying all the time is … kind of a tell.
Certainly not a flex.
You know who else used this argument about kids being ‘swayed by their parents’?
Woody Allen against Mia Farrow.
Constantly commenting as an abuse apologist must be exhausting, moral compromises aside.
I’m not the one pretending I know what happened. 😎
No one here is pretending … But you’re also calling a woman you don’t know, and have never met, a vindictive bitch. Careful on that high horse, would hate for you to fall right off it.
Never cared about Brad Pitt, his face is too small
It is wild how well his team has buried this. I think a lot of ppl straight up don't know. But sadly, even if they did know, they wouldn't care.
Also the part about people disliking Angelina J and just dismissing her entirely in favor of him because of that. Yes, she is weird (maybe?, but that doesn’t mean she deserves abuse or that things didn’t happen.