This morning, TMZ released the bombshell: Brad Pitt is being investigated for child abuse by the LAPD and California child services – you can read my story here. What’s interesting about this from a media standpoint is that TMZ just kneecapped every other media outlet, especially those – like People Magazine – who had been working non-stop to do up-to-the-minute reporting on the Brangelina Split.
New York Magazine has been running some interesting analysis pieces on the Brangelina Split and the moves Angelina Jolie has been making specifically. According to NY Mag, Angelina has already “won” the biggest battle in the divorce because she shocked Brad and he was left sputtering for a way to regain the narrative. NY Mag theorized – correctly, I believe – that the weeklies would be angling to do sympathetic stories about Brad and how he just wanted a normal life with the kids, and Big Bad Angelina didn’t want that. But, as we can see from the TMZ exclusive this morning, that narrative doesn’t hold water now.
People Magazine rushed and did something rare (for them): they put a second cover within days, this one devoted to the split – you can read the cover story here. I think this is probably Brad’s side of things, because a similar thread was running through all of the reporting last night: Angelina “blindsided” Brad, he didn’t want to get divorced, he “begged” her not to file for divorce, he was “wrecked” by her decision. The NY Post says Brad has been “stunned by the aggressive way Jolie’s team immediately spread negative rumors about him.” But the NYP also says Brad “still loves Angelina.” What else? E!’s sources repeat all of that stuff, with one saying: “Brad did not want the marriage to end. He was committed to doing what he needed to make it work. He was open to counseling.”
So… that’s what Team Pitt was saying before the child abuse bombshell. That was his version, that he wanted to stay married, that Angelina was too aggressive and quick to throw in the towel. But given what we know now… I’m still asking: shouldn’t we be giving Angelina the benefit of the doubt?
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
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