Melissa Etheridge Stands Up for Brad Pitt and Criticizes Angelina Jolie for Divorce Drama

The rock singer opens up about her friendship with the famous actor and his ongoing separation from his longtime partner

It seems Melissa Etheridge would walk across a fire for Brad Pitt.

After all, she once considered asking the Oscar winner to be a sperm donor for her future children and even performed at his wedding to Jennifer Aniston. However, while the rock singer and actor once shared a close friendship, according to an interview she gave on Andy Cohen Live Tuesday, it sounds like Pitt lost touch with his pals after his romance with Angelina Jolie blossomed. 

"I really hope that he reaches back out because there are a lot of us who haven't seen him in 10 years, and it was hard then," Etheridge told Andy Cohen. "We all lost a friend."

Despite drifting apart, Etheridge voiced public support for the star amid his ongoing divorce drama and recent allegations of child abuse. 

"It breaks my heart that anyone would take something as personal as your marriage and your relationship and your rights to your children and do it as purposefully as I see it's being done, because there's a way to be," she said.

Upon filing for divorce, Jolie requested that Pitt receive visitation rights to their six children, but asked that she receive full physical custody. According to a temporary agreement to be upheld until Oct. 20, Jolie currently has sole full custody while Pitt has visitation rights, a source confirmed. A second source told E! News that a therapist will be present for any and all of Pitt's visits with his children

"I've gone through family courts. I've been twice around this block, and I know it really well, and I know when there's some forethought to just how mean and just how you're going to put disinformation out there first," Etheridge added, referencing her own tumultuous legal battle with ex Tammy Lynn Michaels over child support for their twins. 

Having run in Hollywood circles with both Pitt and famous friend Laura Dern, Etheridge also remembers Dern's messy breakup with Jolie's ex, Billy Bob Thornton. While the actor claims he broke off his engagement with Dern before marrying Jolie in 2000, Dern has maintained that she was working on a movie when she unexpectedly heard about their wedding in the tabloids. 

"Some day I'll write a book," Etheridge said. "I was around when Angelina was not doing nice things with Billy Bob to Laura Dern. I went through that on a personal level, and then to know the side of Jennifer [Aniston] and Brad."

"I helped Laura move out of her house with Billy Bob," she added. "I like broke into their home to get her stuff out because it was so nasty."