Angelina Jolie, 43, “really hasn’t come to terms with her heartbreak” over her split from Brad Pitt, 54, a source close to the Maleficent actress EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife.com. “She’s not in a place where she want to admit, it but the loss of their love is still haunting her. They had such a passionate love affair. It’s not something that’s easy for her to get over, not without a fight to match the size of their love. The fact is, Angelina’s deeply hurt that they couldn’t keep things together and have their happy Hollywood ending and she puts all the blame for that failure on Brad.”
Perhaps this explains the nasty turn Brad and Angelina’s custody battle has taken, with her lobbing allegations of unpaid child support at her ex. “Instead of facing her sadness and working through it,” the source tells HollywoodLife.com, “her coping mechanism is to go full ice queen. Sadly it is the only way she can get through this divorce. If she doesn’t focus on her anger and stay in that frame of mind, she would crumble and possibly even have a breakdown.”
“That’s just not an option” for Angie, the source added. “She has to stay strong for her kids and unfortunately for Brad, ‘staying strong’ means ‘staying angry.’ “ Angie’s anger, while helping her keep it together for her kids, but actually backfire and cost her the one thing she’s trying to protect. Angelina’s “carefully word-smithed” accusation – where she claimed Brad didn’t pay “meaningful” child support – might come off as insincere to the judge overseeing the case, California family law attorney David Pisarra EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife.com. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it backfires on her, as more and more judges are starting to see through these tactics quicker.”
Brad – who has denied the accusations by saying he’s paid more than $9 million to Angelina – can’t stand the fact that she’s taken the battle public again. Brad fears that the added spotlight to this battle’s bitterness is “hurting the kids,” and that nothing good can come from a nasty custody dispute. He was coping with the breakup when everything was sealed behind clothes doors, but now that it’s out in the open, Brad feels like she’s “taken off the gloves and is fighting dirty.”