As her ongoing divorce battle with estranged husband Brad Pitt continues, Angelina Jolie has recently beefed up her legal team to help her gain custody of her and Pitt's six children. However, Pitt has found an ally to defend him especially from accusations of child abuse.
On Monday, singer Melissa Etheridge guested at the radio Sirius XM radio show of Andy Cohen where she did not mince words against the “Maleficent” actress. Etheridge and Pitt’s friendship goes a long way back, having attended the wedding of Pitt and actress Jennifer Aniston in 1998. The then golden couple's marriage lasted for seven years.
“It breaks my heart that anyone would take something as personal as your marriage and your relationship and your rights to your children and do it as purposefully as I see it’s being done,” was her message for Jolie. If Etheridge is commiserating with Pitt’s messy divorce, it is because she herself had gone through a custody battle in 2010 with former partner Tammy Lynn Michaels, according to People.
Cohen asked the singer if she believes in the allegations from Jolie’s camp that Pitt was physically and verbally abusive toward the couple’s 15-year-old son Maddox. Although it has been years since her last contact with Pitt, Etheridge said the accusations are “completely unfounded” and “heartbreaking.”
If Etheridge has an unflattering image of the award-winning actress, it is because she witnessed Jolie become involved with Billy Bob Thornton which hurt Thornton’s fiancée, Laura Dern, who was the singer’s friend. She also criticized Jolie in 2013 for her decision to have double mastectomy.
The divorce, especially the accusations hurled at Pitt, has hurt the actor terribly. He is reportedly in bad shape and could not believe the turn of events concerning his family life and marriage. The children are the only reason why Pitt is hanging on, Us Weekly reported.
In an unsolicited opinion, Hossein Berenji, a divorce lawyer not affiliated with the estranged couple, said that Pitt would also benefit from the legal proceeding by placing himself through the process. Despite the stigma attached to divorce litigations, the lawyer believed it as the best way for Pitt to vindicate himself eventually.
