Angelina Jolie’s red carpet companions: How A-lister and her children have formed a ring of steel during glitzy events amid ugly split with Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt may still be battling it out in the divorce courts after eight long years.

But when it comes to public shows of support from their children, the Tomb Raider star is definitely winning.

Last night, 16-year-old Knox became the latest of the couple’s six children to show his support for his mother on a red carpet this year.

The Oscar-winning actress beamed as she walked arm-in-arm with her rarely-seen teenager, who looked dapper in a black tuxedo, at the Governors Awards in Hollywood.

Back in September, the couple’s adult children Pax, Zahara and Maddox – whom Brad reportedly has ‘virtually no contact’ with – also came out in full force to attend a screening of Angelina’s film Maria in New York.

Meanwhile, Knox’s twin sister Vivienne didn’t let go of her mother’s hand on the Tony Awards red carpet in June – weeks after it was revealed the teen had dropped her father’s surname in The Outsiders’ playbill.

Earlier this year, Angelia confessed her bitter divorce battle is likely to keep her in Los Angeles until twins Knox and Vivienne turn 18 in 2026. 

As such, Angelina’s children’s red carpet appearances are a PR win for the actress on more than one front.

On the one hand, the outings are a way for Angelina’s six children to publicly show their support for the star as she promoted her blockbuster films and theatre productions.

While Maddox, 23, Zahara, 19, Pax, 20, Shiloh, 18 and Knox and Vivienne, 16, have made several group appearances on red carpets with their mother of late, the children have not been photographed with their father in over eight years – casting doubt over the state of Brad’s relationship with his children.

Here FEMAIL delves into how the Jolie-Pitt children have rallied around their mother on red carpets around the world after largely cutting ties with their father.

Joining Angelina on Eternals press tour amid custody battle

During the Eternals film press tour in 2021, Angelina’s children appeared on red carpets all over the world – with at least one or two of them joining their mother at every premiere. 

At the time, Brad and Angelina were locked in a bitter custody battle. In 2021, Brad was granted 50/50 custody –  only to have it overturned on appeal. The actor is now no longer contesting the matter, meaning he now only holds visitation rights.

Although the children have never commented on their parents’ split, they hinted that their loyalty lay with their mother by the sheer amount of red carpet appearances they did with Angelina that year. 

That October, Angelina’s daughters Zahara and Shiloh – the eldest biological child she shares with Brad – accompanied her to the premiere in Rome.

For the occasion, Shiloh, who has since officially dropped her father’s surname, opted for a simple black velvet dress and trainers – before later wearing one of her mother’s Dior dresses at the London premiere.

At the time, Shiloh was only 15 years old – and Angelina reportedly had made sure her children had ‘limited involvement’ with their father following their split in 2016.

As they arrived at the film premiere, Angelina held her daughters’ hands and the trio happily posed for pictures before heading inside. 

Meanwhile, Pax – who labelled Brad a ‘despicable’ person and ‘world class a**hole’ in 2023 – was the only member of the Jolie-Pitt clan not to attend the London screening three days later. 

In 2019, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were declared legally single by a judge – but have yet to reach a divorce settlement. 

This summer, a source revealed to People that Pitt does not have much of a relationship with his older children.

A insider said: ‘He has virtually no contact with the adult kids. 

‘His engagement with the younger kids is more limited in recent months because of his filming schedule.’

The source noted that the couple’s custody agreement allows for visitation rights with Knox and Vivienne, who are still minors.

‘(Angelina) has the kids most of the time, but per their agreement, he has visitation with the younger kids,’ the insider added.

Since 2021, he’s had a judge intervene to tell Angelina she mustn’t listen in on his mobile phone calls with the children. The judge has also ordered ‘reunification therapy’ for Pitt and the kids. 

The couple are still involved in a contentious $350 million battle over Chateau Miraval, the vineyard they bought in France. Jolie sold her half to a subsidiary of Stoli Group after the plane incident because, her lawyers said, she was ‘uncomfortable’ being involved in the sale of alcohol.

In a filing this summer she called her ex a ‘bully’ who acted emotionally, irrationally and ‘ultimately illegally’ over the vineyard. He accused her of staging ‘a hostile takeover of the business.

Vivienne joins Angelina at Tony Awards after dropping Brad’s surname 

In June, Vivienne joined her mother on the Tony Awards red carpet – with the pair opting for colour coordinated outfits.

While Angelina wore a show-stopping, Grecian-inspired teal dress, Vivienne opted for a vest and trousers in the same shade.

Both Jolie and her teenage daughter had involvement in the Broadway production The Outsiders – which garnered a whopping total of 12 nominations for the big night. 

On the red carpet, the pair looked every inch the adoring mother and daughter – who got matching tattoos to commemorate the play – as they laughed and posed for pictures. 

The mother and daughter’s outing came as another blow to Brad Pitt on Father’s Day shortly after his daughter notably dropped his surname on her Playbill credit. 

According to People, the couple’s daughter was listed as Vivienne Jolie in the literature, instead of Vivienne Jolie-Pitt.

Earlier this year, Shiloh hired her own lawyer to legally drop her father’s surname.

On her 18th birthday, Shiloh filed to change her name from Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie. 

In July, Shiloh took out a newspaper ad marking the name change – which is a standard step before the court would approve a name change.

The notice also stated anyone who had objections to the petition should show up in court.

A source close to the matter told Dailymail.com: ‘Shiloh hired her own lawyer and paid for it herself, so Angie doesn’t know and can’t speak for it.

Pax’s public support after branding Brad ‘despicable person’

In September, Angelina’s son Pax joined his mother and siblings Zahara and Maddox on the red carpet for a screening of her film Maria in New York.

As she arrived at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Angelina held onto Pax’s forearm before posing for photos with her adopted children.

In 2020, Pax famously called his father a ‘world class a**hole’ who makes his four youngest children ‘tremble in fear’ in an explosive Instagram rant posted for Father’s Day.

In a cutting Instagram Story, Pax wrote: ‘You have made the lives of those closest to me a constant hell.’

‘You may tell yourself and the world whatever you want,’ he added., ‘but the truth will come to light someday.

Then he sarcastically added: ‘So Happy Father’s Day, you f*****g awful human being.’

Angelina Jolie adopted Pax from an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2007. He was three years old and had been dumped as a newborn by his heroin-addicted biological mother. Brad formally adopted him the following year.

Pax did not say if there was a specific event that inspired the post or whether it was a culmination of years of tension

In his post, Pax called his adoptive father ‘a world class a**hole’ adding: ‘You time and time and again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person 

‘You have no consideration or empathy toward your four youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence.

‘You will never understand the damage you have done to my family because you’re incapable of doing so.’

Brad Pitt was investigated by the FBI and the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services over child abuse allegations following the alleged altercation with Maddox on a private jet five days before Jolie filed for divorce.

Maddox is said to have stood up for Jolie during a fight between his parents.

A source later told People, Brad had been drunk at the time, adding: ‘There was an argument between him and Angelina.

‘There was a parent-child argument which was not handled in the right way and escalated more than it should have.’

Jolie told authorities Pitt had behaved ‘like a monster’ on the jet. Brad was subsequently cleared of all charges and has since quit both booze and smoking cannabis and was photographed attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in September 2016.

Although Brad Angelina have never spoken publicly about the incident, the actress told Vogue in 2021 that she had dumped Pitt for the ‘wellbeing’ of her family.

She added: ‘It was the right decision. I continue to focus on their healing. Some have taken advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media, but I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds.’

Knox’s outing last night marked his first red carpet appearance in over three years.

The event, put on by the film academy´s board of governors, is honoring the late Quincy Jones, James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, filmmaker Richard Curtis and casting director Juliet Taylor. 

Angelina’s outing comes as the actress continues to promote her latest film Maria, a biopic about opera legend Maria Callas, which is already generating Oscar buzz. 

Maria, which depicts Callas during her final decline in Paris in the 1970s, was helmed by Jackie director Pablo Larrain.