What Shiloh knows
BLOCKBUSTER LEGAL PAPERS REVEALED
New divorce papers reveal the star couple’s divorce is getting nastier – but it seems the case is swinging in Brad’s favour. The latest ruling allowed the actor to have more visits with their kids – Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 10, and twins Knox and Vivienne, eight – and granted his requests for the kids’ records to be sealed. ‘The next court papers could have Shiloh’s evidence in them,’ a source tells New Idea. ‘They could be the most explosive claims so far.’
ANGE’S HELL
THE 10-YEAR-OLD HAS SHOCK FACTS ABOUT HER MUM
She’s the secret weapon that will blow Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s ugly divorce and bitter custody battle wide open – their little girl Shiloh.
Sources close to the case say that mum-of-six Ange, 41, has become increasingly worried about her 10-year-old daughter, nervous that her ‘incredibly close’ relationship with Brad could harm her chances for full custody.
It’s believed the Oscar winner is concerned that her ‘erratic’ behaviour over the past six months has led Shiloh to pull away from her mother – giving Brad, 53, ‘ammunition’ to use in his custody battle against Ange.
‘Shiloh is taking [the divorce] the hardest,’ a source tells Hollywood Life. ‘She’s a daddy’s girl and she’s apparently upset with her mum for keeping them apart. Angelina is trying to explain that it’s for the best, but the kids don’t see it that way.’
A source close to the case adds: ‘Now that Brad has more access to the children, including unsupervised night visits Ange is worried Shiloh will pass on sensitive information that could be harmful to her in their legal battle – and leaked details could show up in court documents.
‘She of course doesn’t blame Shiloh – she knows her daughter is just trying to make sense of this situation in her head. But Ange is going over every meltdown, every tense thing she’s said about Brad in front of Shiloh and all of her erratic behaviour, worried that it could damage her case. Shiloh has seen everything – on both sides. And if she wants to be with her dad, that could be bad news for Ange.
‘She’s worried Shiloh will be called to give evidence, and she’s panicking over what she just might say, the secrets she knows. ’
Leading Los Angeles-based psychotherapist Dr Jenn Mann tells New Idea that Ange’s situation with Shiloh isn’t an uncommon occurrence when it comes to messy divorces.
‘It’s hard for any child not to see a parent regularly. It creates a sense of loss... Not getting to see her father is going to be very hard on her. Legally, [Brad and Angelina’s divorce] is nasty. We don’t know how nasty it is behind closed doors. We don’t know if they badmouth each other to the children.’
Dr Mann believes badmouthing could potentially scare Shiloh off marriage and commitment later on when she’s an adult.
New Idea has been exclusively told that Shiloh is ‘incredibly mature’ for her age, with several contacts who met her during Ange’s last shoot in Cambodia revealing what a kind, generous and well-behaved child she is.
‘Shiloh is kind and speaks very nicely. She’s generous and asks lots of questions. She is the most mature of the younger kids and the most interested in the world around her,’ says the insider.
‘She would lead the gang, talk to waiters at restaurants and the minders, and engage with people more than the others – she’s certainly outgoing. Shiloh seems to be the most wellbehaved, the one who prefers her own company.’
They are sentiments echoed by Ange herself, who once controversially described her daughter as an ‘outcast’.
‘[Shiloh’s] almost going to be the outcast in the family because she’s blonde and blue-eyed,’ Ange told Look magazine. ‘Shiloh seemed so privileged from the moment she was born.’
Speaking to Elle UK, she said: ‘I felt so much more for Madd, Zahara and Pax because they were survivors, they came through so much. I have less inclination to feel for [Shiloh]...
‘I met my other kids when they were six months old, they came with a personality. A newborn really is... Yes, a blob!’
Brad told Oprah Winfrey in 2008 that Shiloh wanted to be called John, with Ange later revealing to Vanity Fair that Shiloh ‘felt’ like she was a boy at the age of four. But it seems those claims are now no longer the case – another factor that could be driving a wedge between the mother and daughter.
‘Nobody calls her John or anything like that anymore,’ says a close friend of the family. ‘While she is a tomboy, she very much identifies as a female.’
And with US sources reporting that Brad has won a small victory in their ongoing custody battle after Ange dropped her bid for sole custody, Dr Mann says the biggest priority is ensuring the Jolie-pitt children now have some stability in their lives.
‘Having a custody agreement where both parents spend time with kids equally, 50/50 custody, not speaking ill of the other parent in front of the children, not putting children in the middle, creating consistently in both homes should be their priority,’ she says.
‘Now that Brad has more access to the children... Ange is worried Shiloh will pass on information’