Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s years-long bitter divorce battle FINALLY nears the end – as the actor drops his pursuit seeking shared custody of their children

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie‘s years-long bitter divorce battle is finally nearing the end – as the actor has now reportedly dropped his pursuit seeking shared custody of the children he has with his ex.

A source told DailyMail.com that the couple, who have been embroiled in a nasty courtroom showdown since they split in 2016, are currently in negotiations and are finally approaching the finish line in their epic legal war, with an end expected by the summer.

While Brad, 60, had originally sought a 50/50 arrangement relating to their six kids, an insider has now revealed that he is no longer contesting the matter.

That means that Angelina, 48, will retain primary physical custody of the children and he will have visitation rights.

One factor in that decision is that much of their brood has ‘aged out’ – only Shiloh, 17, Knox, and Vivienne, both 15, are still under 18 – and Shiloh will pass that milestone in May.

The older children – Maddox 22, Pax, 20, and Zahara, 19 – are thought to have difficult relationships with Brad; and as adults, in the eyes of the law, are now not covered by any custody agreements.

Adopted son Pax allegedly hasn’t spoken to the Fight Club alum since the now-infamous private plane fight which ended the marriage, and is said to not even regard Brad as a parent anymore.

Back in 2020, on his private Instagram account, he called Brad a ‘world class a**hole’ and ‘despicable person’ who made his four youngest children ‘tremble in fear,’ as previously revealed by DailyMail.com.

He added in the scathing post, shared on Father’s Day: ‘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.’

In addition, Zahara now goes by ‘Zahara Jolie’ rather than ‘Zahara Jolie Pitt,’ which is her legal name.

A source from Brad’s camp described what has gone on between him and the kids as ‘textbook parental alienation’ and claimed it was Angelina’s intention to draw out the divorce until the children were 18.

Her friends, though, have insisted: ‘Brad has nobody to blame but himself. All Angelina wants is to heal their family and move on.’

DailyMail.com has reached out to both Angelina and Brad’s representatives.

The two stars first started dating in 2005 and from the start, their romance was controversial.

They met on set of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith – while he was still married to Jennifer Aniston – and almost immediately, rumors erupted that he had cheated on the Friends alum.

It was a love triangle that captured the entire nation – and while Brad started dating Angelina almost immediately after he and Jennifer split, he has furiously denied that he was unfaithful to his ex.

The couple, dubbed ‘Brangelina,’ quickly became Hollywood’s It couple.

They tied the knot in August 2014 during a secret ceremony in the South of France, and welcomed three children together – Shiloh in 2006, and twins Vivienne and Knox in 2008.

They also adopted two more, Zahara and Pax, and Brad legally adopted the son that Angelina had adopted before they got together, Maddox.

But in 2016, it came to an explosive end after the pair got into an alleged physical altercation while on a private flight with their six kids.

Angelina later claimed that Brad ‘choked’ one of the children during the horrifying dispute and ‘struck’ another in the face, leaving her and the kids feeling like ‘hostages’ and cowering in fear under a blanket for hours until they landed.

She also alleged that he grabbed her by the head, slammed her against a wall, and violently shook her at one point during the flight – which resulted in her injuring her back and elbow.

Brad’s rep called Angelina’s account ‘completely untrue’ to CNN at first, but then released an amended statement to the publication that read: ‘Angelina’s story continues to evolve each time she tells it.

‘Brad has accepted responsibility for what he did but will not for things he didn’t do. He has been on the receiving end of every type of personal attack and misrepresentation.

‘Thankfully, the various public authorities she has tried to use against him over the past six years have made their own independent decisions. Brad will continue to respond in court as he has consistently done.’

In May 2021, after years of duking it out in court, Brad and Angelina were officially granted joint custody of their kids – but one month later, the judge’s decision was thrown out, which meant they had to start all over again.

But in early February, the first signs that the divorce proceedings were finally nearing the end emerged when the pair filed their Final Declarations of Disclosures.

Since they split, the two stars have also been fighting in court over the vineyard that they once owned together.

After Angelina sold her share of their French winery, called Chateau Miraval, to Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler in October 2021, Brad sued her for breach of contract, and has since accused Yuri’s company of ‘attempting a hostile takeover of the wine business.’

Angelina’s investment company Nouvel then filed a $350 million lawsuit against Brad, claiming that he ‘wasted the company’s assets’ and ‘spent millions’ of dollars on ‘vanity projects’ like swimming pool renovations and building a recording studio on the property.

During a hearing earlier this month, the judge ruled in favor of the Oscar-winning actress ‘and dismissed five of the seven claims Brad had asserted against her.’

She ‘truly harbors no ill-will toward’ her ex, her lawyer said afterwards, adding that he ‘hopes he will now release her from his frivolous lawsuit, stop his relentless attacks, and join her in helping their family heal in private.’