Pitt and son Maddox’s strained relationship5 min read

Maddox Jolie-Pitt being the son of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, for the first time in his young life is the subject of more than just “Maddox celebrates his birthday” headlines. There are now questions regarding the type of dad Brad Pitt is, and his relationship with Maddox is taking center stage.

Maddox had previously refused to see Pitt, a source said he was mad at his dad and didn’t want to see him just yet; the actor had seen his other five kids with Jolie on two occasions since she filed for divorce on Sept. 19.

Father and son saw each other, in person, for the first time in over a month on Wednesday, a therapist was present as per the terms of the temporary arrangement formed by Angelina and Brad.

Pitt and Maddox had a “typical argument,” the type that most parents and their kids are no stranger to, while another insider said it amounted to “the kind of disagreements that sometimes occur between teenage boys and their fathers.”

Jolie adopted Maddox from his native Cambodia on March 10, 2002, when he was 7 months old. She met Pitt on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 2004 and, by that time the following year, they were a couple, with Brad accompanying Angie to Ethiopia in the summer of 2005 when she adopted daughter Zahara. Both kids were adopted by Brad as well ,in early 2006, a few months before he and Jolie had their first biological child together, daughter Shiloh.

Whatever’s been going on, Maddox has his reasons for siding with his mom or, quite possibly, he’s plenty upset with both parents right now and mom just happens to be in charge.

Both Brad and Angelina have made it clear that their kids’ well-being are their No. 1 priority.

And while one day, hopefully in the near future, Maddox will appreciate the efforts his father seems to be making in what must be a painful time for everybody, all the parental cliches in the world may just fall on uninterested 15-year-old ears for now.