This summer marked yet another milestone for Brad Pitt and girlfriend Ines De Ramon as the actor and jewellery designer made their second red carpet debut for the premiere of his latest blockbuster, F1.
The couple, who have been dating for three years, packed on the PDAs as they held hands at premieres in both London and New York and, in one tender moment, Ines was seen adjusting Brad’s tie.
In a rare comment about his new romance, Brad, 61, described Ines, 32, as ‘beautiful’, adding, ‘it takes two’ when he spoke about dedicating so much time to making films.
But away from the cameras, a source tells us that there is growing tensions in their relationship due to the amount of time Brad continues to spend on waging a bitter legal war against his ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, as they reveal Ines’ views over the ‘soul sucking fight’.
In the latest twist in their dispute over the French Chateau where they wed back in 2014, Brad last week doubled down on his demands for his legal team to have access to Angelina’s private emails.
Now we’re told, ‘Ines is on Brad’s side but sees up close the toll all this battling back and forth takes on him. She can’t help but wish he would find a way towards peace, for his own sake and frankly, for hers too.
‘When Brad has downtime from work, which really isn’t a ton because he works so much, but when he does she wants to spend it with him. Sadly a lot of his free time is taken up dealing with lawyers, there always seems to be a call that takes priority over everything else in the day.
‘She doesn’t pout or complain but there’s no way that can feel good. Brad has so much to be happy about in his life so it’s hard to watch him devote so much of his life towards this soul sucking fight.’
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Once Hollywood’s most breathtakingly gorgeous golden couple, Brad and Angelina’s 12-year romance has now become one of the most talked-about and toxic divorces in showbiz history.
And after almost a decade since Angelina, 50, filed for divorce in 2016, their public battle still isn’t over as the pair gear up for yet another court showdown next year.
While their divorce was finalised last December, Brad’s dispute with Angelina over the sale of her share of their French estate and award-winning winery, Chateau Miraval, to a Russian billionaire is still rumbling on.
It was revealed last month that Brad’s team had requested to see Angelina’s private messages in relation to the purchase, which he is adamant he did not approve.
At the time, his attorneys insisted that the documents would prove that Angelina ‘acted with malice’ against Brad and his team are now insisting they be released.
And while the saying goes that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his mother, the insider says Ines’ friends are warning her that the way that Brad has treated the mother of his children through their on-going legal battle could speak volumes, too.
They tell us, ‘Ines’ friends are all side-eying it and saying she should be taking notice of how relentless he’s being with his ex-wife. This is the mother of his children and by all accounts he’s been ruthless. To them, that doesn’t really speak well of how he behaves when things go south.’
Behind closed doors, the source says that Ines, too, sees his ‘vendetta’ against Angelina as a dark ‘cloud’ that continues to hang over their otherwise happy romance and turns the man she loves into his ‘vengeful’ alter-ego.
‘No doubt it’s pretty unsettling for Ines to see this side of Brad, it’s just the complete opposite of how he always is with her so it’s very jarring, almost like a Jekyll and Hyde situation,’ the insider says.
‘Which is really sad because it’s a cloud hanging over what otherwise is a really wonderful time for both of them. As a couple, they’re in such a good place, but there’s no denying the albatross of this never ending fight with Angelina is very draining.’
They add, ‘Everyone believed this would be well and truly done by now but there is no end in sight so of course Ines is panicking that it might never reach a resolution. For all his good qualities, Brad has some serious baggage and at some point it may just get too heavy for Ines to deal with.’
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Angelina – who shares Maddox, 24, Pax, 21, Zahara, 20, Shiloh, 19, and Vivienne and Knox, 17 -with Brad has been candid about how she has been forced to live a much more ‘caged’ life amidst their on-going disputes over their children’s custody agreement, which stipulates that she must remain close to Brad, 61, in LA until their youngest twins turn 18 next summer.
Meanwhile, Brad has continued to fly over the world for his career and earlier this month, it was revealed that he and Ines have now moved into their own $12 million love nest in the Hollywood Hills together.
And the source says their new life has been the start of a brand new chapter for Brad, telling us, ‘He and Ines have got this beautiful life together at the new place he bought in the Hollywood Hills for them to share. She’s a fantastic cook and they love to throw little dinner parties, although most nights that he’s home and not on location they stay in, just the two of them. Their life is very stable and grounded.’
However, as the world watched on as Brad and Angelina’s picture-perfect family fell apart, it’s little surprise that, even a decade on, Brad appears to be holding on to the home they once shared as a family and the legacy he and Angelina created.
Meanwhile, Angelina also described the chateau as the ‘focal point of our family life’ but said that she and the children had not returned since the divorce due to the ‘painful’ events that had led to the marriage split, when Brad was accused of physically assaulting Angelina and their eldest son, Maddox. Brad was not charged following a police investigation into the incident and has denied the allegations.
And as we previously reported, the dad-of-six is now all but completely estranged from all of his children, who remain close to their mother, with the twins’ 18th birthday next year spelling the end of any control he has over their lives.
Now the source says, ‘Even with so many blessings and this fantastic woman by his side, Brad can’t seem to let go of this need for vengeance. Brad says there is no way he will let her win.
‘But when it’s pulling his attention away from all the wonderful things in his life and dragging him down you have to start to wonder if the cost is too high.
‘It’s no wonder Ines is upset by it, at what point is he going to be ready to build a future with her rather than fighting to hang on to the past and get revenge on his ex, it’s unhealthy and pretty disturbing.’
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