Brad Pitt steps out in Brussels amid contentious divorce and custody battle with ex Angelina Jolie 

Brad Pitt stepped out in Brussels on Monday as he was spotted leaving the Royal Museums Of Fine Arts in Belgium.

It appears that the actor, 57, has jetted to the city to support his sculptor friend Thomas Houseago, who has an exhibition starting at the venue from April.

It was previously reported that Brad had been creating art with the British artist, 49, in 2017 to channel his heartbreak over his split from Angelina.  

Brad’s outing comes amid claims that he is ‘heartbroken’ after it was reported that his ex Angelina, 45, is ‘prepared to provide proof of domestic violence’ in their contentious divorce and custody battle.

The actor kept a low profile as he left the museum wearing a protective white face mask amid the coronavirus crisis and black sunglasses.

Brad wore a loose-fitting navy shirt and matching trousers which he layered with a cropped jacket.

The Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood star finished his look with white trainers and a gold chunky necklace.

It is likely that Brad has jetted to Brussels to support his best friend, British artist Thomas Houseago, whose exhibition – Vision Paintings – will be available to view at the Royal Museums Of Fine Arts from 22 April until 1 August.

In 2017, it was reported that the actor had  been creating art with the British sculptor to channel his heartbreak over his divorce from Angelina.  

Brad was said to have locked himself away in a Los Angeles art studio in March 2017 to create a sculpture under the direction of his friend Thomas.

At the time, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that he had been spending up to 15 hours a day in the studio working until the early hours of the morning and listening to playlists of sad songs.

A source said at the time: ‘Brad is joined by Thomas and his team of assistants but once darkness falls everybody else leaves and he stays behind, making the art space his own.

‘He spends all night working on his art and listening to emotional songs. Everybody knows it’s related to what’s going on with him personally, but nobody says anything. He’s a quiet guy, and very humble. He’s learning at a fast pace.

‘Art is a way for him to concentrate on one thing, taking his mind off everything else. He’d rather do that and be constructive than go out partying.’

Earlier this month it was reported that Brad is saddened over the leak that Angelina is now ‘prepared to provide proof’ of domestic abuse in the couple’s contentious custody battle.

An alleged altercation between son Maddox, 19, and Brad in 2016 was said to have been the final straw for Angelina, who filed paperwork indicating that both she and her children are willing to offer testimony and ‘proof and authority’ in support of her allegations, according to documents obtained by The Blast.

Now Pitt is ‘heartbroken that Angelina has gone that route. There’s a lot of emotion left after their marriage,’ a source close to the actor told Page Six.

The source added: ‘He has taken responsibility for his actions and owned up to his past issues, he’s stopped drinking.’

‘The marriage was very passionate and toxic at times and — like all couples — they had fights, but also shared many good times together. He has talked about his drink and drug problems during the time they were together,’ they continued.

The Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood star has never been arrested or charged for any offense during the couple’s marriage, nor have any police reports been made.

Soon after the ex couple filed for divorce in 2016, it was revealed that Brad was being investigated by the FBI and social services in LA amid reports he got ‘verbally abusive and physical with his children’ on a private jet, yet he was cleared.

‘Brad and his camp has never attacked Angelina. But his camp feels this leak was calculated to sway opinion ahead of the conclusion of their trial,’ the source said.

‘Brad feels like he’s being more and more isolated from his children, and he’s devastated about it.’

The ex couple share kids, Maddox, 19, Zahara, 16, Pax, 17, Shiloh, 14, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 12, and are hashing out custody and financial arrangements in the trial, which will see their youngest children provide testimony if they give permission.

Sources tell the publication that the kids have been interviewed by court-appointed therapists. 

It was reported that  Maddox has ‘already given testimony as [an] adult in the ongoing custody dispute and it wasn’t very flattering towards Brad’.

‘He doesn’t use Pitt as his last name on documents that aren’t legal and instead uses Jolie,’ the source told US Weekly. 

‘Maddox wants to legally change his last name to Jolie, which Angelina has said she doesn’t support.’  

A source told MailOnline: ‘She has made similar allegations in the past which were investigated by the authorities and not substantiated.’

The source added: ‘This is the latest sad and desperate attempt to advance a false narrative at any cost. 

‘These have been the same attacks repeated for the past 4 ½ years and anyone who is perceived to be standing in the way can expect to have their credibility challenged.’

MailOnline contacted representatives of the former couple for comment at the time. 

In October, the bitter divorce battle hit yet another bump in the road after the actress parted ways with one of her high-priced attorneys.

Priya Sopori, an LA-based former federal prosecutor who has been working with Jolie’s lead lawyer, Samantha DeJean, is out after filing a ‘Notice of Withdrawal of Attorney of Record’ with LA Superior Court, DailyMail.com learnt at the time.

Sopori is a partner with California law firm Greenberg Glusker LLP. It is not known whether Jolie – who is fighting Pitt’s efforts to win 50/50 custody of their children – fired Sopori or if the attorney made the decision to quit.

But the change in her high profile team at this late stage signals Jolie’s resolve to get what she wants has only hardened.

A source close to Jolie told DailyMail.com: ‘Angelina has fought tooth and nail to get what she wants in this divorce, when it comes to her kids she won’t back down…’ 

It’s not the first time the Girl, Interrupted star has parted company with a lawyer she’s hired during the long-running five year divorce saga.

In 2018, superstar LA divorce attorney Laura Wasser – whose client list reads like a Who’s Who of Hollywood – stopped working for Jolie when the actress’s legal fight with Pitt reportedly became too ‘venomous and nasty.’

Wasser – who has represented Johnny Depp, Kim Kardashian, Ryan Reynolds, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Ashton Kutcher and many other stars – has earned a reputation as a lawyer who tries to take the sting out of break-ups by promoting compromise between warring couples and shared custody of children.

So it was thought at the time that Jolie’s hard-nosed attitude toward Pitt was not a good fit with Wasser’s more gentle, conciliatory approach.

After Wasser, Jolie hired San Francisco-based DeJean who is now the only lawyer representing her in the long-running custody dispute with Pitt.

The former couple are dragging security experts from two continents, an entourage of personal assistants and bodyguards, a former Jolie co-star and an army of child psychologists and doctors to give evidence in an upcoming custody trial that’s expected to be held in private.

Lists of witnesses filed in a Los Angeles court and seen by DailyMail.com reveal 21 people who will be testifying in the movie stars’ legal fight over their children.

One witness will be domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette, who controversially clashed with a prosecutor in a 2013 murder trial by describing killer Jodi Arias as the victim of abuse. 

Brad has also listed his ex-wife’s personal assistant Michael Ofstedahl and Jolie’s friend and Girl, Interrupted costar Jillian Armenante as witnesses – a sign that Pitt is willing to pull out all the stops to win joint custody. 

Pitt and Jolie famously fell in love on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, while Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston. The couple married in France in 2014 after 10 years of dating, but split two years later in September 2016.

In the period that followed their initial separation in 2016, the pair duked it out over custody and financial arrangements, with Brad arguing he’d provided more than adequate funding but Angie demanding a greater share of his $300m fortune. 

A big factor in the former couple’s battle is Jolie’s desire to move the children abroad. Pitt, is vehemently opposed to her moving them to a foreign country.

In 2019, Angelina admitted: ‘I would love to live abroad and will do so as soon as my children are 18. Right now, I’m having to base where their father chooses to live.’

In June 2019, Brad – who admitted being an alcoholic at the time of their split but is now recovered – secured a legal breakthrough when a judge ruled he would be permitted more time with the children. He is believed to see them every few days.

The kids are shuttled back and forth in blacked-out SUVs and limousines between their parents’ LA homes, which are around a mile from one another in the affluent suburb also inhabited by stars including Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes and Zac Efron.

In early April last year, the superstars came to an agreement that will see the children attend a more traditional schooling program in LA, marking an end to their homeschooling regime. Jolie said she stands by her choice to leave Pitt.

‘It was the right decision,’ the actress told Vogue in June 2020.

‘I continue to focus on their (the kids’) 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.’

The custody trial was due to start late last year but it was delayed after Angelina asked for the private judge to be replaced, claiming that he ‘failed to disclose’ that he was working other cases with one of Brad’s lawyers.