“My dad wasn’t the problem; I watched him lose his mind over my mom’s secrets.” Maddox, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s eldest son, reflected on the tumultuous past.

It began when Angelina’s past mistakes resurfaced:

1. A hidden child, born out of wedlock.
2. A previous marriage, concealed from Brad.
3. A web of deceit, slowly unraveling.

. Trust shattered, like fragile glass.
. Love turned to anger, then despair.
Their fairy-tale romance, now a distant memory.

Angelina’s secrets had destroyed the foundation of their relationship. Brad couldn’t reconcile the woman he loved with the deception she’d woven.Maddox, grappling with the truth.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s son Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt told PEOPLE in 2017 that his mom is “a wonder,” as much for her parenting as her famous acting skills.

Jolie became a mother for the first time when she adopted Maddox in 2002. Though she welcomed Maddox into her family as a single mom, Pitt later filed to become his adoptive father after he and Jolie began dating a few years later.

After filming Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in Cambodia, the actress decided to adopt a child from the country. Though Maddox was raised in the states, Jolie has said she tried to maintain her son’s connection to his home country throughout his childhood. She even took on the film adaptation of the Cambodian story First They Killed My Father at Maddox’s request — a project they worked on together in 2017.

The producer has often talked about her pride for her firstborn son, who is now 23.

“I’m so happy for [Maddox] that he’s grown up into such a good man,” Jolie told Entertainment Tonight in 2019. “I say that ’cause he’s smart and he’s doing his work, but he’s also wild. He’s balanced in his teenage years.”

Earlier that year, as Maddox headed off to Yonsei University in South Korea, Jolie told PEOPLE, “I’m nothing but proud. I look forward to all he will do.”

Here is everything to know about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s oldest son, Maddox Jolie-Pitt.