The FBI Is Closing The Case On Brad Pitt’s Alleged Airplane Confrontation With His Kid

Brad Pitt
(Image credit: Moneyball)

Brad Pitt got something to be thankful for just in time for Thanksgiving. The FBI has officially cleared up those allegations about the actor engaging in a fight with his oldest son, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, on the family's private plane, and has ended its investigation without filing any charges.

With the official FBI investigation completed, Brad Pitt has been cleared of any potential child abuse charges that media outlets had speculated about surrounding an alleged confrontation between the actor and his teenage son Maddox, Us Weekly reported. The investigation, which the FBI has been conducting for the past two months, looked into claims that Brad Pitt had been verbally abusive and gotten physical with 15-year-old son Maddox Jolie-Pitt during a flight on a private plane from France to Los Angeles on September 14. Six days after the alleged airplane incident, Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt.

In response to allegations made following a flight within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States which landed in Los Angeles carrying Mr. Brad Pitt and his children, the FBI has conducted a review of the circumstances and will not pursue further investigation. No charges have been filed in this matter.

Though nobody knows for sure what exactly went down between Brad Pitt and Maddox Jolie-Pitt, it appears as though whatever happened, it doesn't warrant any legal charges. Shortly after Angelina Jolie announced her divorce from Pitt, an insider source told PEOPLE that Pitt was under investigation for child abuse and mentioned the airplane scenario. The mysterious incident became more of a focal point after Jolie requested sole custody of the couple's six children and Maddox chose not to show up for two of his court-appointed meetings with his adoptive father (though they've reportedly met up since).

Earlier this month, Brad Pitt was also cleared of any charges after similar investigations by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. With these two investigations completed, it's likely that Pitt and Angelina Jolie's stalled divorce proceedings will finally get started. Many have speculated that Pitt had been purposefully delaying paperwork in order to stall his impending custody battle with Jolie until after he was no longer under investigation for child abuse, which would obviously have worsened his chances at being awarded the partial custody that he is seeking.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are parents to six children together, whom they both raised during their 11-year relationship. Jolie adopted Maddox Jolie-Pitt from an orphanage in Cambodia in 2002 when she was still married to Billy Bob Thornton. Shortly after the adoption, she and Thornton split up, and Jolie began dating Pitt in 2005 on the set of their spy thriller Mr. and Mrs. Smith. That same year, Jolie adopted her second child, Zahara Jolie-Pitt, while on a trip to Ethiopia with Pitt. Though both children were initially adopted solely by Jolie, Pitt later also adopted both in 2006, the same year that the couple also gave birth to their first biological child, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. The couple went on to adopt one more son, Pax Jolie-Pitt, from Vietnam in 2007, and then give birth to twins, Knox and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, in 2008.

Although Brad Pitt is now cleared of any child abuse charges, he's far from clear skies. The custody battle is just getting started, and, unfortunately, it looks like someone isn't going to get their way --- we just don't know who yet.