'Tormented' Brad Pitt allowed to visit children for just 4 hours on Christmas, says report

Brad Pitt will reportedly be spending just four hours with his children on Christmas Day. Angelina Jolie has allegedly allowed the "tormented" Allied star to visit their children as "they would probably never forgive her" if she refused to let him visit them.

According to the Daily Star, the Original Sin actress has granted the Fight Club actor permission to deliver gifts in the morning but he has to leave by early afternoon.

"She [Angelina Jolie] doesn't have the heart to refuse to let him see the children over the holidays and they would probably never forgive her if she did," a source told the Daily Star.

"But Brad [Pitt] is going to have to use every ounce of his acting skill when he arrives with their presents and put on a brave face to mask the torment he's going through over spending so little time with them."

Jolie, 41, filed for divorce from Pitt, 52, on 19 September, citing "irreconcilable differences". At the time, an alleged incident between Pitt and Maddox on board a plane was widely reported. However, the charges against Pitt were dropped by the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services and the FBI. Pitt was reportedly ordered to undergo anger management counselling and submit to random drug tests prior to agreed visits with the children.

"He bit his tongue and suffered through all of that in the hope Angelina would allow him more time with their kids. But he was really choked when he didn't get to spend a single moment with them at Thanksgiving last month," the source said.

"And although he can't wait to see them at Christmas, he's dreading how hard it will be for him to leave them again after four hours," the source added.

Jolie and Pitt are in a legal battle over the custody of their children — Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and eight-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. Jolie has been demanding sole physical custody of the children with visitation rights for Pitt, whose lawyers have filed a counter-claim.

The former couple started dating after meeting on the sets of the film Mr and Mrs Smith in 2005 and tied the knot in August 2014.