FBI 'Gathering Facts' About Pitt's Allegedly Drunken Flight

Source denies actor hit son on plane
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 23, 2016 3:22 AM CDT
Updated Sep 23, 2016 6:32 AM CDT
FBI Looking Into Pitt-Jolie Split
In this Nov. 16, 2013 file photo, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, from left, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt attend the 2013 Governors Awards in Los Angeles.   (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP, File)

The Brangelina divorce saga has reached a stage where there really might be a need to make a federal case out of it. Sources tell TMZ that the reason the LAPD isn't investigating Brad Pitt's alleged abusive behavior on the family's private plane last week is that the plane was in the air at the time, meaning the FBI has jurisdiction. The FBI says it's "continuing to gather facts and will evaluate whether an investigation at the federal level will be pursued," reports the Telegraph. The LA County Department of Children and Family Services is also believed to be investigating the incident, which sources say involved an argument between Pitt and his 15-year-old son, Maddox.

A source tells the New York Daily News the plane incident wasn't Pitt's finest moment, but that there's no truth to allegations that he was physically abusive. He "was drunk, and there was an argument between him and Angelina," a source tells People. "There was a parent-child argument [that] was not handled in the right way and escalated more than it should have." Pitt "did not hit his child in the face in any way. He did not do that; he is emphatic about that. He put his hands on him, yes, because the confrontation was spiraling out of control," says the source, who accuses the Jolie camp of exaggerating to avoid a custody battle. (Madame Tussauds has split up the couple's wax doubles.)

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