Being partners with Brad Pitt sure does have its advantages. We just never thought his mediation skills would be one of them.
But it turns out the actor is more than just a pretty-faced Basterd, and we have his powers of persuasion to thank for Brangelina's most recent European vacation photo op, last weekend's reunion of Angelina Jolie and her formerly estranged father, Jon Voight.
Between Pitt and Angelina's brother, James Haven, the frosty relationship has thawed considerably. Here's how their Venetian meet-up went down:
Everyone (who follows these sorts of things) knows that things first went south between father and daughter (and son) during Jolie's Tomb Raider days, when Billy Bob Thornton's throat couldn't appear on a red carpet without Jolie's tongue firmly rammed down it.
A source close to the actress tells E! News that Papa Voight didn't take too kindly to the PDAs, even writing a letter to his daughter telling her how "disgusting" her behavior was. The then made the media rounds suggesting his daughter needed an intervention. That also led to Haven to sever ties with Voight and align himself with his sister.
Eventually, however, Voight tried to make amends, mailing Jolie a gold necklace as a peace offering—that she promptly returned to sender.
Then, roughly a year ago, Haven became a born-again Christian and began training as a minister, at which point he successfully resumed and maintained contact with his father. Haven soon tried to get his sister to follow his lead by making nice with their dad, though she routinely rebuffed his olive-branch advances.
Enter Pitt.
The insider tells E! News that Pitt thought Voight "deserved a second chance and so he stepped in."
It apparently did the trick, as it was Jolie who invited her father out to Venice last week.
"The visit actually went really well, and Angie's thrilled he got on really well with all her kids. She's grown up a lot, and forgiving Jon is a huge step," the source says.
The well-photographed trip marked the first time Voight had met with all six of his grandchildren. And not a moment too soon. We were beginning to worry he'd never meet Shakira Zahara.
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Surely it's not too late to grandfather a familial addition into our Brad & Angelina Family Album.